Making Things Go Boom
by thepaganjew
Summary: The history of an earthborn Alexandria Shepard. This story looks at the points in her life that would influence her to become the great Commander Shepard the galaxy relies upon. Rated M for violence and some drug references.
1. Ch 1: Beginnings

**AN:** This is the first story of many I hope to write based in the Mass Effect universe. Mass Effect doesn't belong to me, it belongs to BioWare. So yes, insert legal wording here. As I said this is my first story and I'm just getting back into the swing of writing, reviews and constructive criticism are welcome and encouraged.

**Warning: **This story will contain violence, drug references, alcohol use, LGBT people, etc. So if such things offend you please turn back.

* * *

"I've met the most interesting people while flying or on a boat. These methods of travel seem to attract the kind of people I want to be with." – Hedy Lamarr

Vancouver, British Columbia - April 11th, 2172

"Well, Hedy, guess that's a good enough reason as any to get me anywhere but here." Alex mumbled down to the datapad in her hand. She powered down the battered and singed pad, placing it back into her bag. It was her eighteenth birthday and she was about to give herself the best and only gift she'd ever gotten for herself: she was about to join the Alliance and get the fuck off this rock.

Alex Shepard was someone who, despite her efforts to blend into the crowd, always managed to stand apart. Slightly taller than average, with a lithe build that came from a combination of too little food and too many fights, she could generally talk, shoot, or blast her way out of most circumstances. In a world that was ever-blending, many of the recessive physical traits had died off. The majority of people around her had at least some natural shade of brown or tan to their skin, as well as darker hair and eyes. Alex, however, was pale in complexion and would freckle instead of tanning. With her striking green eyes and naturally rich red hair, she tended to be easily visible in a crowd. However, what really made her stand apart was something intangible. There was an air of command about the young woman; something that caused heads to turn and inspired people to do what she asked of them. She carried a certain gravitas as she moved through the world around her, easily navigating the crowds of people that were everywhere in the cities where she had lived over the years.

Alex had spent most of her life roaming up and down the large megalopolis that now took over the vast majority of the state of California. All of the land from what had once been State Route 99 to the Pacific coast, and from Chico all the way down to the San Diego area, was just one giant city with suburbs and some chunks of farm land scattered throughout. Large portions of what had once been one of the best wine regions in the world had become too hot for the vines to thrive. The vineyard owners were doing their best to save their grapes, but the buildings and homes just kept squeezing in. Alex had the feeling that if the Big Ag companies weren't so damn powerful in the state, all the farm land would have disappeared decades ago, completing the transformation of the whole region into one enormous, sprawling city.

While growing up on the streets of a megalopolis had many downsides, it had taught Alex one very important lesson: while allies may emerge from time to time, they always left in the end. She would always end up alone. Alex ran her fingers through her hair as she stood outside the Alliance headquarters. Honestly, she didn't want to be alone. She hated being alone. That was part of why she wanted to join the Alliance. Well, that and she made a promise to make a better life for herself. In the Alliance, someone would always have her back. She had to go inside, but she was still nervous. Life on the streets and in gangs had been most of her existence. Her face twisted into a rueful smile. She was exchanging one violent life for another: one was seemingly indiscriminate with its victims, while the other attempted to be disciplined and organized. Hopefully, she would still have the chance to blow stuff up. With one more deep breath to center herself, she opened the door toward a new life.

* * *

Los Angeles - April 15th, 2154

The once-iconic train station had been transformed into an even more crucial central hub for travel over the years. People came and went at all hours, for a variety of reasons. Thankfully, one of those people happened to be Charles Dumas, an engineer with a private security firm, who had just finally gotten some long overdue time off to surprise his family with a visit. A young man with short black hair, light brown skin, and rich chocolate eyes, he was only twenty-five years old, with a sharp mind and a promising career in front of him. He had been trying to get this time off for months. His mother's birthday was coming up soon and he wanted the chance to surprise her before his employers sent him off to work on some new classified project that would keep him away from his family for at least a year. Charles preferred traveling lightly, as there was little worse than waiting for luggage, so he carried only a duffel bag. Nothing could take the bounce from his step as he hummed to himself, making his way to the main station exit.

He stopped in his tracks, humming cut off mid-tune as his grin turned into a frown. Over the general din of the station, he heard the sound of a baby's cry. While this sound may not be out of place in a crowded area, it caught Charles' attention. He had helped raise several younger siblings and knew a cry of distress when he heard one. What worried him the most was that it sounded like a newborn's cry. Part of him wanted to get back on his way. His youngest sister, Amelia, was the only one who knew he was on his way home. She was helping him by setting up a surprise party for his mother, and was expecting him shortly. Sighing, he bowed his head, rubbing the spot between his eyebrows with the middle finger of his right hand, something he always did when he was being indecisive. Surely, the child's parent would calm it down soon. Why was he even worrying?

Charles looked at the clock high up on the wall of the station. Amelia wasn't expecting him for an hour and it only took thirty minutes by cab, even in the perpetual traffic of the city. It was then that Charles realized that he had been standing there for almost five minutes, lost in thought, and the crying hadn't stopped. In fact, it seemed to have become more desperate. Well, that made up his mind for him. Something in him was telling him to go see what was wrong, and his gut was usually right about such things, so he started picking his way through the crowd toward the sound of the wailing infant. No one else seemed to be paying attention, but how could they not? The baby's cry had heightened in pitch, volume, and desperation over time, making it more and more noticeable. Thankfully, the station was starting to thin out a bit as the most recent wave of arrivals finally left. Charles began to wander through the terminal, casting his eyes this way and that in an effort to locate the source of the crying.

Charles wandered through the aisles of seats, looking for the infant. After several minutes of searching with no luck, Charles started to worry. He noticed a security guard passing by, a man who appeared to be in his early 30s, and reached out to grab his arm. "Hey man, can you help me out for a minute? You hear that baby crying? I can't seem to find it."

The security guard scowled at Charles, pulling his arm away. "What's it matter to you that a baby is crying? It's a baby, that's what they do. Plus, I'm sure the parents are trying to calm the kid down."

With that, the security guard turned to walk away. Charles just latched onto his arm again, "Look man, I've been listening to that kid cry for ten minutes and it's only getting worse. It may be none of my business, but I helped my mom raise a couple of my younger siblings, as well as some of my cousins, and that sounds like a newborn in distress to me." The guard still had the scowl on his face, though he didn't pull his arm away this time. His eyes began to soften a bit with worry, so Charles decided to press him a bit more. "It'll only take a couple minutes at most. If we find the kid with its parents, then no harm done. But who knows, something could be wrong and they could need help."

The guard sighed, running a hand through his hair. Taking care of any disturbances in the station was part of his job, after all, and this guy seemed genuinely concerned. Plus, if he didn't agree to help, the guy could go bitch him out to his superiors. Also, who knew, a baby could really be in trouble. It would only take a couple minutes, then he could get back to his boring-ass day. "Alright, let's go see if we can find this baby."

Charles smiled slightly, "Thanks, sir. It shouldn't take long with two of us." With that, the two men began searching around the main waiting area of the station.

Fifteen minutes later, the baby continued to cry. The guard called for assistance over the headset, and soon, three uniformed police officers came to help in the search. However, it was Charles who finally found the infant. He had been assuming that the child would be in some sort of car seat or hover stroller, but it wasn't until he looked under a small cluster of station seats in a corner of the waiting room that he saw the box. Charles finally pulled off the duffel that he wore slung over his back, setting it on one of the seats. He reached under the seats with a shaking hand and pulled out the box. Inside was a small screaming bundle, wrapped in what appeared to be soiled blankets. The baby definitely had a dirty diaper and was red in the face from crying so long. He yelled out over his shoulder, "I found the baby!" What shocked Charles most was the baby's appearance. It had a shock of strawberry-blonde hair, pale skin, and striking blue-green eyes. A baby like this would be priceless to some parent wanting these harder-to-come-by traits, and some heartless fuck had just left it alone in the station to an unknown end.

The cops and security guard came hurrying over as Charles pulled the baby's tiny feet out of the blanket to see if it would have the telltale hospital band around its ankle. It was an archaic system, but was still common as a method of hospital identification. When he pulled out the infant's left foot, he was happy to see the rumpled white band printed with a strip of black block letters.

The first person to make it over to Charles was the security guard. As he approached, Charles could hear him talking on his headset, requesting for the emergency medical personnel on staff to head over. The guard frowned, looking over the infant as Charles cradled it to him. "Well shit, I'm glad you talked me into looking for the baby now. Is there any ID?"

Charles squinted down at the ankle bracelet. It looked odd. "Yeah, she has one of the baby ankle bracelets, but it doesn't look like it's from any hospital. There's no logo on it, and all it has is her name, Alexandria Shepard. Oh fuck, it has her birthday, April 11th. This kid is only 4 days old."

"Son of a bitch," the guard swore, swiping a hand through his hair. "Who would do this to a kid this small?" He leaned his head to the right, talking into his headset. "Hey Benji, can you see me on the monitors? Yeah, go back over the logs on this spot and find out just how long this baby has been here."

The other officers, seeing that the matter was under control, stood in a perimeter around the two men, keeping the general public away until the situation could be handled. The EMTs, a dark skinned woman who appeared to be in her forties and a young Latino man who barely looked old enough to be out of school, were finally able to push their way through the crowd. It had been thirty minutes since the group had started looking for the crying child, and everyone was glad she had been found. Who knew how long she had been there, or how much longer she would have remained there if Charles hadn't cared enough to search for her? The baby had finally stopped crying and had fallen asleep in Charles arms as he rocked her gently, his body remembering what to do from all those years ago helping with his siblings.

"Sir, I said you can hand her over to us now. We'll take it from here." Charles' head jerked up. He had barely registered the voice of the female EMT talking to him. She must have had to repeat herself. She held out her arms, so Charles passed the infant over to her. "Oh right, here. I hope she's okay." As he passed over the girl, she remained asleep but made a displeased sound as she was taken out of his arms.

Charles turned to watch the guard, who had turned his back to the group and was talking into his headset. "Uh-huh. Right. You found out when, Benji? Are you serious? That long? Fuck, can you at least see a face on who left the kid? Fuck, okay. Thanks, Benj." The guard turned back to the EMTs, who were attempting to start the baby on an IV, then to Charles, who just stood there waiting for news. "Well, it looks like we all you a big thanks, buddy. Looks like that baby was left here a little over six hours ago. Unfortunately, the person dropping her off was wearing a hoodie and big sunglasses, so we can't get a good face shot. It's cliché, but it works. We're still gonna send the image to the local authorities to try and track down whoever did this, but honestly I don't know what good it's gonna do."

"I don't recognize this tag from any hospital around here." This time, it was the female EMT who spoke up. "It's missing too much information to be from a hospital, anyway. I know some midwives use them too. Maybe it was a hidden pregnancy; someone who didn't want to get caught with the kid at all. Sadly, it would explain leaving her here and not even using a safe surrender site."

As she was talking, the guard began to collect the box and extra blankets that had come with the baby. "Well, looks like we can take care of it from here. Thanks for the help." He extended his free hand to Charles.

Charles eyed the man's hand, then smiled a bit sadly while shaking it. "No problem, just glad I could help." He turned his eyes to the female EMT as her younger companion took what readings he could from the baby girl, who was now awake and fussy. "What's going to happen to her?"

The woman lifted her head. "We'll take her to a local hospital to make sure she's alright, and then she'll be placed in foster care until she gets adopted. Everyone wants a baby, and she's certainly cute enough that she should get adopted fairly quickly. Well, time for us to get going." The two EMTs rose and began to walk away, the guard following with what there was of the baby's possessions.

"Wait a sec!" Charles called after them. The trio stopped and turned to watch him. "I'll forward my information to security, in case you need to get a hold of me for a report or something, but there is one quick thing." He opened up his duffle bag, rooting around near the bottom. It took him only a moment to find it: a toy spaceship. He walked over to the guard, handing the toy to him. "This is for her. I've had this since I was a kid, and it's always brought me good luck. From her start, it looks like she's gonna need it far more than I do."

The guard smiled and took the toy. Placing it in the box with the blankets, he looked over to the female EMT, who smiled and nodded. He turned back to Charles. "You got it. We'll make sure it stays with her if we can. You have a good day." And with that, the trio made their way out a side entrance. An ambulance pulled up as they stepped out the side doors, the cops clearing a path for them through the crowd that had formed.

Charles sighed and looked up at the clock. He was going to be late to his mother's party. Normally, Amelia would be pissed, but he hoped that she would understand because of the day's unusual turn of events. He zipped up his duffle bag and slung it back over his shoulder. Charles took one last look at the ambulance as it pulled away. It was sad to watch the little girl leave, but hopefully she would have a better life now that she was safe. He placed the wireless earpiece for his phone into his ear and placed a call to Amelia. "Hey, sis. Look, sorry, but I'm gonna be late. I know the party's important, but just listen to the day I've had…"


	2. Ch 2: Vidscreen

San Fernando Valley - 2162

The story of baby Alexandria, the infant left at the train station, was all over the news. A search was conducted to find her parents, but genetic screening had yielded no results. Most people at that time had their genetic makeup on file, which meant that there was a good chance that Alexandria's birth parents were either very poor or very, very rich. Those at the bottom rungs of society tended to fall through the cracks, and those with enough power and influence could have their records wiped. Poor baby Alexandria was already beginning to fall through the cracks and get lost in the system. Several potential adopters stepped forward, but something always went wrong.

The first set of potential adopters didn't pass the screening process. The next family was more promising and began to foster Alex in hopes of adopting her later. The couple had been trying for a child of their own for nearly a decade, with no results. After three months of fostering Alexandria, however, the couple finally ended up conceiving a child. They returned Alexandria to the care of the system, which placed her in a foster home. By then, the press surrounding the infant's discovery had died down, and while there was some interest in her, the poor baby's adoption was bogged down by red tape due to the chaos following her removal from her first home and placement in the second. Forms were filled out incorrectly, there was an error in the system, and no one seemed to know how to fix it. After a year of bureaucratic limbo, Alexandria was all but lost within the system. As a result, she stayed in a foster home where she was cared for, but not truly loved.

* * *

Now eight years old, Alexandria (who now went by "Alex") had fallen into a rhythm with her foster family. Her foster mother, Evelyn, was gone at work almost all day, and her foster father, Frank, ignored her unless absolutely necessary. If were up to Frank, he wouldn't have the kid around at all. But Evelyn wanted a kid, so Alex stayed. At least this way, they got a check every month for keeping her. When not in school, Alex was generally left to her own devices. While it was lonely, she preferred it that way.

Frank, her foster father, was a large man. He was at least two meters tall and weighed over 115 kilograms, with the physique of a former laborer gone soft. Once, he had been a successful contractor. However, on a job that had happened before Alex was even born, something went wrong. Frank and Evelyn never talked about it, referring to it only as "The Incident." All Alex knew about "The Incident" was that Frank had lost his contractor's license. He had spent the last several years working odd jobs here and there, never holding one down for very long. He spent most of the time out in the garage of the small house, drinking beer, building random furniture, and fixing junk he found to resell. He was usually in a foul mood. Alex figured it was better to simply be alone than to spend time around that man.

She spent most of her free time playing pretend, usually imagining she was off on a space adventure. Today was no different. Alex ran around the house playing with her trusty toy spaceship. She had had it for as long as she could remember, and she would play with it for hours every day. Sometimes she pretended to be an explorer, discovering the unknown; but usually she imagined she was in the Alliance, protecting the galaxy from bad guys. As she raced around the living room, saving the universe from a space dragon, she tripped on a loose cable on the floor and went tumbling. The vidscreen, which had never been secured well, came tumbling down on top of her. She scrambled out from underneath the smashed hardware, bleeding from her lip, which had been sliced by a falling piece of debris, and staring in awe at all of the broken bits. _Whoa._ The wires, the circuit boards, and all the bits and pieces of metal and wire seemed to call out to her; they almost seemed to sing to her. She tentatively reached down to touch the broken vidscreen, only to receive a small electric shock. Wincing slightly and sucking on her shocked fingers, Alex oddly wasn't afraid. Her eyes seemed to fill with even more wonder at what had just happened. She pulled her fingers out of her mouth. Noticing some blood on her fingers, she wiped them on her pants and examined the broken bits of vidscreen. It was then that she noticed that the screen was still plugged into the wall.

Making her way gingerly through the debris, she unplugged the unit and reached down once again to touch the spot that had shocked her before. Nothing happened. Alex went to retrieve her toy and stood over the smashed bits, taking in the whole sight, trying to absorb it all. Never in her young life had she been so enthralled by anything before. _I never thought this stuff could be even cooler on the inside. _Kneeling down near some of the smaller chunks, she gently caressed broken circuit boards and wiring, taking a few of the pieces she found the most interesting and shoving them into the pockets of the too-big pants she was wearing.

As she had reached forward to pick up a shard of what had once been the screen, she barely registered the sound of the door leading from the garage into the house, sliding open. "What the fuck did you do to the vidscreen?!" boomed a voice from behind her.

Alex's eyes, once wide with wonder at all of the broken pieces of technology before her, now went even wider with fear. _Oh crap, I'm really in trouble now. _Frank normally scared her, but now she was terrified. She could tell from the beer in his hand and the way he was swaying that he had been drinking. Frank was a mean drunk on the best of days, but Alex had never seen him so angry. Tears started to fill her eyes, but she looked up anyway at the large man towering over her. "I'm sorry. It was an accident."

"That's no fucking excuse. You always have accidents! You should fucking know better, you're supposed to be some sort of fucking genius!" he practically roared at her. It was true, all of it: the part where she always seemed to break things, and the part where she was a genius. In the years since Frank and Evelyn had taken her in, Alex had undergone all sorts of testing from the government. Even from a very young age, she had practically tested off the charts for her potential in the fields of math and science. She had even been placed in school early. While she was the youngest in her fourth grade class, she was head and shoulders above any of the students in performance.

The only thing holding her back was her lack of discipline. In need of constant stimulation, Alex would bounce in her seat, refuse to come in after recess, and generally ignore whatever was being taught if she didn't find it interesting enough. She had heard her teacher, Mr. Douglas, tell Evelyn that the only reason Alex wasn't pushed ahead at least one more grade level was her excess energy and lack of focus. It was this excess energy that lead to frequent accidents, like the one with the vidscreen.

Her lip trembled as she stared up at Frank. The pain from her sliced lip caused her to wince. Thankfully, it felt like the bleeding was slowing, or had stopped, as she couldn't taste blood in her mouth anymore. Despite her fear of the big man, Alex was never one to back down from anything. She stood up as tall as she could, her toy spaceship in one hand, the sliver of vidscreen in the other, and looked Frank right in the eyes. "I said I was sorry."

"Yeah, well, sorry isn't good enough this time," Frank growled down at her. He accompanied his response with an accusing point of his finger, directly at her face. The hand he used to point happened to be the one holding onto the half-full bottle of beer, the sudden jerky motion causing some of the beer to fly out and splash Alex's face. Frank sneered down at the child. "You broke something of mine, so I guess I'll just have to break something of yours." With that, the large man reached out with his free hand and ripped the toy spaceship out of Alex's grasp.

That spaceship was the only thing in the world that truly belonged to Alex. Everything else is this house either belonged to the adults, or was from previous foster kids. That ship was _hers_. It didn't matter that she was small, or that, in comparison, Frank was very, very large. All that mattered was that toy. As Frank lifted his hand to throw the toy against the nearest wall, Alex screamed in anger. Gripping the broken vidscreen shard as tightly as she could, she ran toward the big man. Stumbling at the last moment, she fell. Combining the motion of the fall with what strength she could muster, Alex drove the shard of vidscreen deep into the meaty part of Frank's thigh.

The big man screamed and fell to the ground in a combination of pain and shock. He dropped his beer bottle, the last of the liquid spilling onto the rug. The toy spaceship bounced a couple of times before coming to rest just within Alex's reach. The young girl knelt on the ground, frozen. She couldn't believe what she had just done. Frank reached down and pulled the shard of broken screen out of his leg with a grunt. It was bleeding, but not badly enough to suggest that a large vein or artery had been cut. Frank's eyes, filled with rage, turned upon Alex, his tone soft but full of malice and the promise of violence. "You're gonna get it now, you little bitch."

With that, Alex reached out to grab her only possession, scrambled to her feet, and ran around the man bleeding on the ground, heading toward the garage door. Evelyn locked the front door when she left for work every day, so Alex couldn't sneak out while Frank was out tinkering in the garage. However, Frank had not set the lock leading out to the garage, expecting to be inside for only a minute. He had also left the large overhead garage door open as well, leading out to the street, like he usually did when he was working.

Alex ran as fast as her legs could carry her, which was fairly quick for her size. She didn't normally leave the block where she lived, but she was familiar with one route that could hopefully lead her somewhere safer. The bus she took to school every day did not stop at the children's houses, but instead at larger intersections surrounded by plenty of buildings and side streets where she could hide. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all that her young mind could put together in her moment of panic. She took off running as fast as she could. She had just barely turned the first corner when she heard Frank bellowing after her, "Get back here, you little bitch!"

She did not think he would have been able to follow her so quickly. _Oh no, gotta hide, gotta hide! _Tears of terror started to fall as she tried to think of what to do. Frank was fast for a man of his size, but hopefully the injury to his leg would slow him down. She would not have enough time to make it all the way to the busy intersection and find a place to hide. Alex had to find a place to hide now, then find somewhere safer later. As she rounded another corner she spotted a house that had large bushes growing in a line along the sidewalk instead of a fence. Thankfully, while strong and quick, Alex was still small for her age. She was able to squeeze under a pair of the bushes in front, dash across the front lawn, and crawl underneath another row that grew along the side fence separating the two properties.

No sooner had she finally wiggled securely under the bushes against the fence, than she heard Frank's heavy footfalls rounding the corner and starting up the block. As Alex held her breath, Frank jogged right by the house where she was hiding, grunting with pain as he ran. Quickly, the sounds faded into the distance. Alex still didn't move, since he would have to come back this way to get back home. She desperately clung to her toy, the broken pieces of tech poking uncomfortably into her legs as she lay motionless in the dirt trying not to cry or breathe too loudly.

A short while later, Alex heard Frank making his way back, calling out to her, "Alex! Come on, sweetheart, I didn't mean it! Come on out. I'm not mad at you!" The young girl didn't believe a word of it. She saw the intent in Frank's eyes: he wanted to hurt her, badly. Whatever happened next, she knew she was never going back to that house. Sure, Evelyn cared about her, but she was gone up to sixty hours a week trying to earn a decent living while Frank stayed at home drinking. Now that Alex had stabbed the man in the leg, she knew that she would never be safe at that house again, so she stayed still in the dirt underneath the bushes, trying not to make a sound.

The sun had set by the time Frank's voice finally faded away. Alex remained under the bushes, shaking from fear and the chill in the air. She was hungry, frightened, and thirsty, but most of all, she was tired. As uncomfortable as her hiding place was, she tightened her grip on the only thing she had left in the world and fell into a deep sleep.

Alex woke up to the sound of people shouting her name. It had gotten dark, with flashlight beams flickering back and forth between the houses. She had sprawled out just a bit in her sleep, so she took the opportunity to scoot back and hide as deeply in the shadows as she could. _Please don't find me. I can't go back_! As she listened, Alex realized that there were four people looking for her, that she could hear: Frank; Evelyn; her social worker, Sandra; and someone whose voice she did not recognize. While she could not be sure about the mystery person, she knew Evelyn and Sandra would never hurt her. She knew without a doubt, though, that if it was Frank who found her, things would go very badly. _Better make sure that doesn't happen, then._

So she waited under the bushes, adrenaline keeping her awake better than those energy drinks she would occasionally steal from Frank's fridge in the garage. Sometime later – Alex wasn't quite sure how long – the four people left the area immediately around her hiding spot. Alex didn't know if they had stopped for the night, or if they had just moved to a different area to search. This place wasn't safe forever, though. Morning couldn't be too far off, which meant more adults would be around. Plus, she really had to use the bathroom. _Ten minutes should be long enough. If I don't hear them for ten whole minutes, I can keep moving._ And with that, Alex began her long count to six hundred.


	3. Ch 3: Pancakes

…_597, 598, 599, 600._ Nothing. For ten long minutes, she had heard nothing. Knowing she still had to remain quiet, Alex moved as gingerly as possible out from under the bushes, hoping the branches would not make much noise. Before exiting the property, Alex peeked out over the white picket gate, listening for any signs of shouting and watching for flashlight beams. Nothing. As quietly as she could, she opened the gate and stepped onto the sidewalk. Running would be too noisy and tire her out quickly, but walking was too slow, so Alex started off at a jog. She headed toward Ventura Boulevard, the large street that cut across the entire Valley from east to west. She did not have any money, was hungry, and had to use the bathroom. _Ok, one problem at a time_. Looking around, she spotted a vidscreen in a window showing the local news, something about animals; in the corner of the screen was the time: 1:38am.

It was very late, and most of the shops were closed. Every few shops or so, she could see a lit sign indicating an open shop within: an adult novelty store, a pawn shop, and a restaurant with a sign in the window that said, "Open 24 hours. Voted best pancakes in town." With that, Alex's stomach growled. She loved pancakes drenched in butter and syrup. One time, she could remember pouring half a container of syrup onto a single stack of pancakes. It even ran down her arm when she brought the first bite up to her mouth. Her stomach growled again. She needed money to buy food, but the only things she had on her person were some of the circuit boards from the broken vidscreen and her toy. Looking around, she noticed that the building with the sign that said "Pawn Shop" also had a sign that read, "We buy used tech" in the window. Taking a deep breath of relief that the shop was on the same of the street so she would not have to cross the busy boulevard, Alex made her way into the pawn shop.

A bell chime went off and two men turned to look at Alex as she walked through the door. The man on the near side of the counter was young for a grown-up, with black hair and light brown skin, his eyes the color of caramel. He wore a black t-shirt, denim pants, and combat boots. A second man stood behind the counter. He was older than most of the adults Alex had met, or at least he looked it. He was a short man, bald with some silver hair around the edges. He wore a wrinkled shirt with what looked like a food stain near the center of his chest. He scowled at her. "Get out of here, kid. It's past your bedtime."

Alex froze like a deer in headlights. She didn't have anywhere else to go. She needed to sell the circuit boards so she could get credits for food and finally be able to use the bathroom at the restaurant. Taking a deep breath, she continued into the store. "But I have stuff to sell, and it the sign says you buy other people's stuff here."

Waving a dismissive hand at her, the shopkeeper turned away, back toward the man with the caramel eyes. "I said beat it. You couldn't possibly have anything I want."

"Now hold on a sec, Marco." It was the young man, the customer, who spoke up.

"Let's see what the kid brought you. I'm curious. It's not every day a kid comes wandering in here, especially this late at night."

Sighing, Marco motioned Alex over, "Alright, let's see what ya got."

Alex hurried over, not wanting to keep them waiting. These men could change their minds at any moment and try to send her away again. "Here, I have these." She emptied her pockets of their contents, spilling the bits and pieces of electronics onto the low counter.. Realizing that she had also dropped her toy into the pile, she snatched it away quickly and put it back as far into her pocket as it would go. "But not the spaceship. That's mine."

Marco's face scrunched up as he scrutinized at the pile. "What is all this?"

"They're pieces from a broken vidscreen."

"Broken?" Marco eyed her cautiously. "What kind of broken? Like the plug-it-in-and-it-doesn't-work broken?"

"No." Alex shook her head. "The it-fell-over-and-smashed-on-the-floor kind of broken."

The younger man began laughing, "And how exactly did that happen, little one?"

Blushing furiously – she wasn't used to people laughing at her – Alex didn't look away. "I was running around the house playing Alliance and saving the galaxy from a space dragon, and I tripped on the cord. The vidscreen fell on top of me. That's how I got this cut lip." She pointed to her upper lip, which had begun to scab over.

Marco sighed and shook his head, "Look, kid. I'm sorry, but I don't deal in parts. There's nothing I can do for you."

Alex's heart sank, her stomach growling. As she became more desperate she began to plead in a way only a child could, very intensely and very fast, "Please, mister, I can't go home or my foster dad will kill me. Not 'Ha ha, he's actually just gonna ground me' kill me, but for real! When I broke the vidscreen, he took my toy away, the only thing that's really mine, and then I stabbed him real bad in the leg with a piece of the screen, and- and then he looked at me like he was _really_ gonna kill me, so I ran and I hid under some bushes, and then I fell asleep for a while, and then I woke up, and I came over here. Now this stuff is all I have, and I'm hungry, and I'm scared, and I really have to pee."

Both men stared slack-jawed at the young girl who was breathing a bit heavily after her tirade. It was the younger man who spoke up first. "So why did you take these parts of the vidscreen, exactly?"

Seeing that Marco wasn't going to kick her out – at least, not yet – Alex took a deep breath and looked the younger man in the eyes. "Because I thought it was the coolest stuff I'd ever seen, so I took the bits that were completely broken off but still looked complete."

The two men exchanged glances. Marco looked sad, but shook his head at Alex. "Sorry, kid. I really wish I could help, but I really can't use this stuff." Alex's head drooped and her stomach growled again.

"Maybe you can't use this stuff, Marco, but I can."

Alex's head snapped back up and turned to look at the young man, wide-eyed. "Really, mister? You'd buy it off me?"

Laughing, the man patted her on the shoulder. "Sure, kid. The vidscreen at my group's hangout is on the fritz, and it looks like you just brought in the couple of boards I needed to fix it up along with the stuff I'm getting from Marco. How much did you want for it?"

Alex thought about it, but shrugged, "I don't know, how much are some pancakes?" She pointed to the window across the street.

The young man sighed. "They're worth more than some pancakes, but how about this? After I'm done dealing with Marco here, I'll take you across the street to get you some food. After that, if you want, you can come back with me to my group's hangout for some sleep."

She eyed the man carefully. She had learned about "stranger danger," that seemingly nice people would act nice just so they could get you alone and hurt you. "Why should I trust you?"

Shrugging his shoulders, the man smiled kindly at her, "Honestly, kid, you probably shouldn't. Hell, I wouldn't trust me if I were you, but from what you've told us, you don't have much of a choice. If you don't accept my offer you'll have to take your stuff and leave. You don't have money for food or a safe place to sleep. If you come with me, you'll get food, money and a bed. If you trust me, that is. The choice is yours."

Alex thought about it for a few moments, then gave one quick nod of her head, "Ok, sounds like a deal to me." She extended her hand to the young man. "I'm Alexandria Shepard. My friends call me Alex."

"I'm Esteban, Esteban Ortega. Nice to meet ya, Kid." He reached out and shook her hand.

Alex couldn't help but smile a bit. Esteban actually seemed nice, and the way he called her "Kid" made it sound like it was actually her name. She knew she couldn't just trust that everything would be okay, but she also couldn't stand to be scared all the time, either. Everything that had happened earlier that day was scary enough to last her a lifetime. She released Esteban's hand and turned back to Marco. "Can I use your bathroom while you two finish what you were doing?"

Marco pointed behind him toward the back of his shop with his right thumb, "Sure, kid. Back that way, first door on your right."

"Thank you." Alex hurried back, found the bathroom, which was surprisingly clean for a place like the old pawn shop, and closed the door behind her. Before she could even unzip her pants, she heard the two men starting to argue. _Well, I've held it for this long._ Alex pressed her ear against the door to listen.

"…fucking crazy, Esteban! What are you doing bringing a kid back to the Wolf Pack?" Marco yelled. Alex scrunched her face up a bit. _What's the Wolf Pack?_

"It's not like I got much of a choice," Esteban replied. Alex heard him sigh. "Look, Marco, I was out on the street myself for the first time when I wasn't much older than she is. Fuck, I didn't have anyone or anything. It's…it's not fun being a kid alone on the streets. I had it pretty bad. Lots of people want to take advantage of a kid." At the tone in Esteban's voice, Alex blanched and swallowed hard. Esteban continued, "I may not run with the best crowd, but we protect our own. We have two other kids her age hanging around, actually. They're great for getting into tight spots or moving around unseen. They're both boys but at least they're kids like her. If I can save just one kid from going through the shit I went through, it'll make up for all the fucked-up shit I've had to do. Besides, did you see the parts she grabbed? I don't know if it was blind luck, but she managed to grab some of the most expensive components. Most of the guys with the crew are dumb as fucking rocks, and that's an insult to rocks. I need someone to help me with all the tech repairs, and she just may be smart enough to learn. Don't worry, Alpha won't mind as long as she proves useful."

"Fine, fine. From how scared she looked when she walked in, I don't think sending her back to her folks would be smart, and you've always been an up-front and honest guy with me, Esteban. But if I hear that you or one of your crew is hurting her I will call the cops on you faster than you came on prom night. Get it?"

Esteban laughed, "You got it, Marco. Don't worry, I'm gonna look after her. So, let's finish this up. I need external cables for the X75 model vidscreen, and…" The voices tapered off as Alex backed away from the door. _Huh, maybe I can trust him…a little, at least._ Now, she could finally use the bathroom.

Once she was finished with the toilet, Alex washed her hands and then stood on her tiptoes to look at herself in the mirror. She was dirty from head to toe from crawling under the bushes, and she still had dried blood on her face from the cut. She careful washed her face, not wanting to reopen the wound, and dried it as carefully as she could. She opened the bathroom door and headed back into the main area of the shop. Esteban was waiting, leaning against the counter, a couple of nearly-full bags hanging in his right hand. With his left, he grabbed the pile of circuit boards and put it into one of the bags. "Ready to go, Kid? I believe I promised you some pancakes."

Alex smiled then, really smiled, and her stomach growled even louder than before.

Esteban laughed and ruffled her hair with his free hand. "Let's go get you some food, then. We've got a lot to discuss." He opened the door, letting Alex exit first, "How would you like to learn what all the circuit boards are for and how to make things go boom?"

"That would be awesome!" Alex couldn't help but skip a bit on her way to the pancake house.

As the bell chime sounded on their exit, Marco left his spot behind the counter, moving to lock the door and turn off the "Open" sign. As they walked away down the block, Marco could see the two young ones chattering excitedly. He couldn't help but smile just a bit and shake his head, muttering to himself, "This is going to be interesting."


	4. Ch 4: Presents

San Fernando Valley – 2168

"Marco, you're awesome! Thank you so much!" Alex flung her arms around Marco's neck, squeezing the older man tightly.

Not typically an openly affectionate man, Marco chuckled as he patted the kid on the back. "Well, I had to get you something for your birthday, kid. Though I know most girls would want a pony, I figured this would be more up your alley."

Esteban smiled, "Damn, Marco, you're able to get your hands on more interesting pieces than I thought. How the hell were you able to get the parts?"

The small group stood in the back room of the pawn shop, crowded around a table. In the center was a pile of bizarre-looking tech, the most interesting of which was a sphere roughly 75 mm in diameter. Marco rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, I got lucky. A dirty cop I know had to liquidate a few items before he got caught."

Alex couldn't help but jump up and down in place. "I can't believe it, my very own spy drone!"

"Well, the body is that of an LAPD spy drone, but ole Marco here seems to know you rather well, Kid," Esteban chimed in, pointing to a cylinder on the table. "If I'm not mistaken, that has got to be a 3000 milliwatt laser." Alex's jaw dropped as she looked from Esteban to Marco, a destructive twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah, it is. It may not be the most powerful one out there, but it's the best I could get my hands on. It will definitely be able to set stuff on fire, too. The OSD's contain basic combat and espionage software. While there are still some pieces missing, I bet the two of you could- OOF!" The older man was interrupted by a flying hug from Alex.

"Marco, this is the best birthday present ever!"

Marco stumbled back a bit from the force of the tackle-hug and patted the kid's head, trying to remain the tough and stoic shopkeeper he pretended to be, "Well, you're really doing me a favor. I can't have this stuff hanging around my shop and…" He trailed off, looking down at Alex who was still clinging to him tightly. He remembered the night when she first walked into his store – God, what was it, almost six years ago? – Dirty, bloody, and scared, but determined to make him listen to her so she could get some food.

He had watched her grow from the small, frightened child into a tall, self-confident young woman. Esteban had stayed true to his word and had kept her safe all these years. Though Alex was running with a gang, she rarely saw front-line action. Hell, the only scar on her was the one running down her lip from that cut she walked in with all those years ago. She was Esteban's apprentice of sorts in the gang, helping him maintain all of the Wolf Pack's gear and manage their defenses. She often came with Esteban or by herself to Marco's shop: buying, selling, or trading with him to get supplies when they had extra merchandise. As much as he pretended not to, he really cared about the kid. She didn't trust everyone, but she trusted Marco, and he knew she thought of him like a favorite grumpy uncle. Despite everything she had been through, there was still so much innocence and joy in the girl, especially when she was around the people she trusted, and it brought a tear to his eyes.

"Marco? Something wrong?"

Marco looked down at her. Alex had pulled away just a bit to look up at him, concern in her brilliant green eyes. He was never one to get emotional, but he let himself give in just this once, and really hugged the kid back, almost crushing her to him. "Nothing's wrong. Happy birthday, Alex."

Smiling, Esteban put a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Alright, Kid, time to head back to HQ."

Alex finally released Marco, a big grin still plastering her face. "Okay, let me just put all the stuff in a box and we'll head out."

Already one step ahead of her, Marco pulled a box out from under the work table and silently handed it to her. One piece at a time, Alex placed all the items into the box, careful not to drop any of the pieces. After they were all packed, she wrapped both arms tightly around the box, clutching it to her chest. It was obvious that she wasn't going to let it out of her sight for a moment. Esteban held the door open for the young woman. He smiled gently to himself as Alex walked out. He followed her out, letting the door close behind them. _That's what she is now, a young woman, not the little kid who was brave enough to stumble into Marco's shop_.

Esteban pressed his palm to the driver's side panel of the X3M skycar, the top opening to allow them both access. _Well, brave or stupid_. Esteban shook his head to himself as they settled in, the skycar sealing up and lifting off as they made their way back toward the hideout and garage. The kid may not be well educated but she wasn't stupid.

He had tried to get Alex back into school shortly after he had found her – more like when she had found him. He spared a quick glance toward her in the passenger seat, her eyes glued inside the box as she rifled through the pieces. He had found that schools would need to do a biometric scan in order to enroll her, and since she was in the system as a runaway and ward of the state, she would have been taken back to her foster parents. No way was Esteban going to let that happen. He had made up some bullshit religious protest about not wanting his "little sister" scanned, and took off before anyone could question it. He and some of the other friendlier gang members had helped teach her what they could. Alex could read and write perfectly fine, even better than some of the other kids in the gang her age. In fact, when she wasn't working in the garage helping Esteban, she could be found in her little hammock, practically buried under all the different data pads she was reading.

Alex wanted to learn everything she could, but there was only so much you could absorb without instruction or guidance. The kid was a bit of a puzzle: she excelled at theoretical fields and problems, solving issues in her head within moments in the most bizarre fashions, when other members of the crew had been trying traditional means and failing. When forced to show all of the steps or work it out, however, she tended to falter and make basic mistakes. If one of the guns malfunctioned or broke for a mysterious reason, she could tell what was wrong by watching a crew member trying to fire it or by doing so herself. She had once explained to Esteban that she just knew what was wrong.

Alex had also recently developed quite the knack for strategy and squad tactics. Esteban made it a point to play games of strategy with her, and while she was never out in the field, he had discussed combat with her. If they had downtime, he would make her sit and people-watch with him to tell him what someone was going to do next. Every time she predicted enough of the people's actions correctly, she got ice cream as a reward.

He hadn't talked to Alpha about it yet, mostly because their illustrious leader was a bit of a misogynistic prick who only seemed to tolerate Alex. Alpha only seemed to keep her around due to her remarkable skills at not only keeping the gear working, but finding ways to upgrade it as well. Despite Alpha's dismissive attitude toward the kid, Esteban wanted to get Alex some field training. She was already a good shot with a pistol. They had tried a shotgun at one point, but Alex was only just now hitting a growth spurt and the kick-back of the shotgun sent her off balance too easily.

The Wolf Pack was getting stronger and had been claiming more territory over the past few years. They could use more lieutenants who were smart and could lead, not just dumb grunts who kept their squad in line through fear. Esteban was one of the Betas, a high-ranking member of the Wolf Pack, and could recruit his own lieutenants if he wanted to, but it was always smarter to do it with Alpha's permission.

Alpha – both the leader's name and title – was in complete control. The gang's structure was then broken up into five sections headed up by five Betas. Gang territory made up four of the sections, and those Betas were in charge of controlling and expanding their particular section under Alpha's authority. Then there was the garage crew, the section Esteban led. These crew members were essentially support staff: they kept the skycars running, managed the finances, kept the arsenal maintained, and took care of other legitimate and illegitimate tasks needed to keep the gang running.

As territorial as his lupine namesake, Alpha had chosen a compound near the base of the Sepulveda Pass to serve as the Pack's garage, in order to monitor who came and went from West Los Angeles. Traffic had always been bad in L.A., and this night was no different. Even with the advent of skycars, it would still sometimes feel like you could get wherever you were going faster on foot. Thankfully, the garage wasn't far away from Marco's shop, and a few short minutes later, Esteban set the skycar down onto the landing pad in front of the large garage-bay doors. While it was technically a garage, no one ever parked inside of the structure, as the whole building was full of tech, spare parts, and occasionally a skycar needing repair. It also contained the sleeping quarters of the youngest members, as well as extra bunks for whoever was on call for repairs or EMT duty. Esteban even had his own small apartment attached to the structure, which was his permanent residence. Being the Beta for the garage group did have some advantages, such free rent.

Once the skycar had fully settled down and opened, Alex hopped out and hurried toward the door leading into the garage proper. As she reached for the door, Esteban, still exiting the vehicle, called out to her, "Hey Kid, hold up a minute."

Alex's hand froze on the nob as she turned to face Esteban, her box still clutched tightly to her stomach with her free arm. "What for? I wanna go check this tech out and see if I can at least get the little guy hovering by morning."

Having fully exited the vehicle, Esteban placed his palm to the driver's side panel once more, sealing it up for the night. He motioned for Alex to follow him as he walked over to the door that led to his private apartment. "Come on, I got you a cupcake for your birthday. It'll only take a minute."

Before he could even close the three meters to his door, Alex seemed to materialize suddenly by his side with only a soft rustle of sound betraying her approach. Esteban smiled internally. _Man, nothing motivates that kid like food_. When she had first started to learn how to move so swiftly and quietly, it had freaked him out. Now though, it was just something the Kid did from time to time. About a year and a half before, another Beta, who had since been ousted, had brought on another girl Alex's age, Moira Flannery. While there were other women in the gang, they were few and far between, and there hadn't been another girl Alex's age for the first several years. When Moira had been brought on to act as a scout for the crew covering the gang's western territory, Alex had leapt at the chance to make a new friend.

Moira, who had had a start just about as rough as Alex's, was wary at first of the odd and brilliant girl's attention. Alex managed to control her abundant enthusiasm enough to keep from frightening Moira off – at least, until they got to know each other – and the two became fast friends. Watching the two interact was rather interesting. While her name may conjure up a romanticized version of Ireland, Moira was actually rather average in nearly every way. Being average and unremarkable made Moira perfect at her job. A result of the blending of countless different back grounds, she had skin that was naturally olive and would darken in the summer, chestnut brown hair, hazel eyes, and a petite build.

It was Moira who had taught Alex to move silently. When she was first learning to move quickly and quietly, Alex tended to bungle it pretty fantastically, like the time when she had knocked over an entire tool rack. However, as time went on and Alex had almost given up on moving with stealth, she had mastered the skill. Like most things with the kid, once she stopped trying, it came effortlessly to her. Now, she actually had to force herself to make sound as she moved. She had actually startled members of the garage crew into accidental minor injuries when they were caught by surprise at her sudden appearance.

Esteban opened the door to his apartment, letting Alex precede him. It was only when he closed the door that the lights flicked on and the entire garage crew, plus Moira, leapt from behind the Spartan furniture yelling, "Surprise!" Alex let out a startled squeal, backing up into Esteban instinctively, and clutching her box even more tightly to her chest.

"Relax, Kid. It's just a surprise party for your birthday. Figured it was about time to throw you one." Esteban was finally able to take the box of drone parts from Alex's grasp and place it on the stand near the door.

"A surprise party?" Alex finally allowed herself to look around the room. The whole garage crew was there: seventeen people including Esteban, Moira, and herself. Most of the crew was older than her by ten years, and they all tended to treat her like a joint little sister. There was a banner reading "Happy Birthday" hanging from the ceiling, and balloons in purple and blue, her favorite colors, drifted around at different levels. She smelled pizza. Peering into the kitchen, she could see a stack of pizza boxes there, the top one already cracked open. Then, turning to eye the coffee table, her eyes grew wide at what was resting there: a cake. Not just any cake, but one she had wanted since she saw one in a bakery case on one of her excursions with Moira, a Black Forest cake. She could see the whipped cream peeking out between the chocolate shavings that coated the surface of the chocolate cake, with shining maraschino cherries sitting on small mounds of whipped cream in a circular formation around the single candle burning in the center. The garage crew treated her well, it was true, but Alex was only tolerated by the rest of the gang. Seeing her friends put this together meant the world to her. Tears began to fall freely from her eyes.

"Alex? Are you okay?" Moira rushed forward to hug her friend once she saw her start to cry.

"Aww fuck, guys, looks like we screwed this up. We made the kid cry." A big bear of a man named Donny, who was standing behind the couch, spoke up.

"I'm okay, Moira." Alex hugged her friend briefly before moving her to arm's length. She turned to face Donny, smiling. "Really, I'm fine. I'm just so happy. You all have been so good to me over the years, and I just never expected anything like this. Thank you all so much, I mean it."

Esteban clapped a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her. "Well, now that we have all that sorted out, let's get this party going! Gio, turn on some music!" A tall, stick-thin man with long black hair, who was standing in the back corner near the stereo, turned on the local music station nice and loud. The good part about living in an industrial part of town was that there were no neighbors to complain about the loud music at night.

The party was in full swing. The pizza was devoured and some of the guys had chipped in and bought a keg. While Esteban was protective of Alex, he knew there was no way to completely protect her from the drugs and alcohol that were a part of daily life in a gang. Fortunately, he found that she did not enjoy partaking in the drugs that most of the other guys used. However, she did enjoy beer and was able to win the beer pong tournament Donny insisted on, but not before getting decently buzzed herself. Gio passed around the large pipe, and soon pot smoke filled the air as well. A couple of the guys, Esteban knew, were into Red Sand, but that was where he drew the line. While he couldn't protect Alex from everything, he didn't want anyone actively tripping around her.

Esteban stayed mostly sober – someone had to make sure all these pendejos got home – and watched over his young charge and their friends as they enjoyed themselves. Donny had even managed to track down a piñata and jury-rig it to one of the poles out back. Esteban had to admit that watching a bunch of blindfolded men trying to hit a spaceship-shaped box with a baseball bat was hilarious.

Alex had gone first but the guys had all agreed that she could swing at it a couple times without a blindfold after Moira had a turn. Instead of reaching for the baseball bat that had been propped up against the wall, a devilish grin spread across Alex's face. Quickly, she reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out the laser that had been in the box of drone parts. Esteban's eyes widened as Alex took aim. She activated the laser and deftly sliced through the cable holding the piñata above the ground. The guys and Moira had managed to hit it a few times, so when the piñata finally hit the ground, it broke apart, spilling candy out from the hull. The crew was stunned to silence for a moment before they all started laughing as Moira and Alex dove for the candy, most of the crew quickly on their heels for free candy.

It was only in the wee hours of the morning that the party finally broke up. The crew had all gone home or into the garage to bunk down. Moira was even spending the night in the garage with Alex as a slumber party. When Esteban walked into Alex's sleeping area of the garage carrying a small box, the girls were sitting in one of the hammocks, chatting and trading candy, the box of drone parts near Alex's feet. Moira was the first to realize that Esteban had arrived; the little scout always was the more astute of the two girls.

Alex just continued chatting, staring down at her pile of candy, "…Fine, Moira, then how about I trade you two of my… Moira?" She looked up, wondering why her friend had suddenly decided to ignore her, only to notice Esteban. Alex smirked. "Oh, hey, Esteban. What brings you down here? I thought it was past your bedtime, old man."

Esteban shrugged his shoulders and turned to leave, "Well if that's how you're gonna be, I guess you don't get your present."

"Present?" Alex practically jumped out of the hammock, causing it to swing and the candy that had been in her lap to fall to the floor. "You got me a present?"

Esteban placed the small box in her hands. A simple two-piece box, it wasn't wrapped. Alex carefully opened the box to reveal a datapad inside. It was powered on, and across the screen it read "History's Most Notable Women of Science." She reached down and carefully ran her fingers along the screen, scrolling through some of the names: Caroline Herschel, Marie Curie, Ada Lovelace, Hedy Lamarr, Mary Leakey… The list just kept going. Alex turned her face to look up at Esteban wordlessly, before flinging herself into him for a tight embrace, still clutching the datapad. He could barely hear her soft "Thank you" from her head pressed into his chest.

He chuckled that soft chuckle that the kid always seemed to bring out of him, hugging her back. "Anytime, Kid. I know you like to read, and I figured you could use some good role models." He broke the hug, his hands on her shoulders as he stared down at her. "You're smart, Kid. You deserve a better life than this one. Hopefully, some of the women on that pad will help us figure a way out for you. Happy birthday, Kid." With that, Esteban reached out, ruffled Alex's hair, and left to head back to his own apartment.

By the time Alex turned back around, Moira was already curled up in the hammock under the blankets. Alex left her spilt candy on the ground, forgotten, as she climbed into the hammock next to her friend, doing her best not to disturb her. She read by the light of the small lamp until sleep claimed her and she fell asleep, clutching her new gift to her chest.


	5. Ch 5: Defender

It only took Alex a week to get her drone hovering around and even firing its laser. Truth be told, though, it would have only taken her maybe three days if she had had all the time she wanted to toy with it. However, some new gang-bangers in town were trying to make headway into the Wolf Pack's territory, which meant increased fighting. Whenever there was an increase in fighting, the whole garage crew had more work to do, repairing weaponry and equipment as well as keeping all supplies well stocked.

In the past two days, fighting had slowed considerably, making it safer for the less combat-ready members to go back out into the field. This announcement meant that Moira was back on patrol and recon. Since Alex wanted to test out her new spy drone, they both figured it would be a good time to test its capabilities. The pair had been out for most of the day, mostly doing the work Moira had been assigned, but having some other fun as well. There may have been some bike tires popped, cigarettes prematurely lit, or even some blackmail photos taken when Moira couldn't get close enough herself. Night had fallen by the time the pair was able to make their way back to the garage, chatting happily amongst themselves, the little drone bobbing behind them the whole way.

"I can't believe the laser was actually strong enough to pop that tire," Moira said, laughing.

Alex wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "Neither can I. But that guy was a dick. He practically ran you over!"

"I know, I know, but part of it was my fault. I've gotten too used to blending in. Even when I'm not actively trying to be stealthy, people either tend to ignore me or not see me. And thanks for getting those photos for me."

"It's no problem. I'm just happy I was able to get the camera working. Besides, it's not your fault there was no cover besides all those scraggly trees and bushes."

"Yeah, blackmail is a lot easier when there is plenty of cover. All the plants in the new housing developments haven't had enough time to mature and provide adequate cover…"

As the pair neared garage, they noticed something unusual. At this time of night, fewer people were around, since the bulk of the garage crew had left for dinner or gone home for the night, but everyone who was currently on duty was standing out in the yard. Everyone, that is, except for Esteban.

The girls stopped talking as they neared the building. Both of them could hear shouting from inside, but couldn't make out what was being said. Alex looked around, scanning the small crowd of six men, and picked out Donny. As much as the crew liked her, Donny was one of the ones who really cared about Alex and the other younger crew members. It helped that Donny had a wife and several kids at home, since it brought out his protective streak. He had had Alex's back on more than one occasion, when fighting had gotten too close or some of the less savory members of the pack had gotten it in their minds to flirt with the fourteen-year-old. Alex made her way over to the large man, Moira falling into step behind her to the right, the drone hovering a short distance behind.

"Donny, what's going on in there?"

Donny turned, starting a bit when he saw that the pair had snuck up on him. They hadn't really been trying to sneak up on anyone. However, all the assembled members of the crew, including Donny, were staring at the building and straining to understand what was being said. The large man placed a hand over his chest, letting out a sigh. "Holy shit, kid. Don't do that."

All of the joy that had been on Alex's face just a few moments before vanished in an instant. Donny was always on his guard; it was just part of who he was. Alex had only startled Donny with her stealth, whether accidentally or on purpose, on very few occasions. For him to be this distracted, something very bad had to be happening.

"Donny, what's happening? What's going on?"

Turning his eyes back to the garage door, the large man addressed her. "About an hour ago, Alpha showed up with some gear that needed tuning up. He had eight of his highest-ups with him, including his woman. Most of his crew was hanging out, drinking or chatting with us as we fixed their stuff, but maybe forty minutes after they showed up Alpha got some urgent incoming message from Singh, the Beta in the northern-most territory. He sent his crew, his entire inner circle, out to him. Alpha stayed here and has been pacing back and forth like a caged beast ever since. Then, five minutes ago, he got another call from Singh. It only lasted a few seconds, but he ripped out his communicator, flung it against a wall and started going nuts. Esteban sent us all out here, and all that…" Donny pointed to the building, indicating the yelling coming from inside "…has been going on since."

Alex scrunched up her face. _Why would Alpha stay here if there is a fight going on?_ He loved a good fight. And why would he have his own group out active and running the grunt errands? Unless…. "Donny? This isn't the first attack today, is it? The one up north that Singh called in about?"

Donny shook his head, his big scruffy beard swinging from side to side. "Nope, they started a couple hours after you two left. The only reason you weren't called in from the field is that we needed those damn photos and you were far away from the fighting. We didn't expect you to take so long." He turned his head to look at the two girls. "You got the photos, didn't you, Moira?"

Moira finally seemed to come back in on the conversation. The yelling coming from inside was getting louder. "Oh, yeah, Donny. We got it. The guy you had me track down seemed to be overly cautious, though. The only reason we got any photos at all is because of our little friend here." Moira gestured over her shoulder with her thumb at the small spy drone hovering a few meters away. "Alex managed to get the camera working and transmitting to that scrapped omni-tool she picked up a while back."

"The one good thing about living in this town is that there are plenty of rich people who want the latest and greatest thing," Alex commented as her fingers danced over her omni-tool display. In a couple moments, the tool on Donny's wrist chirped. "That means people like me can rifle through the trash for something that still works, but may not be as pretty." Her omni-tool may not have been the nicest gadget out there, but it worked amazingly. Between Moira's excursions where she could get her hands on tech using a "five-finger discount," and what Marco could get through his shop, Alex had been able to make functional omni-tools for both herself and Moira. "What's so important about these photos, anyway?"

Tapping at his display, Donny pulled up the photos, looking them over and nodding in approval before turning the display off once more. "That man is one of the local higher-ups in Kassa Fabrication. They make some of the best sniper rifles, shotguns, and pistols. If we are going to keep our turf, we need more weapons. And that man is going to give them to us for an amazing deal, so we don't show those photos of him with his mistress to his bosses."

Moira quirked an eyebrow, "Why would the company care if he has a mistress?"

"Because his mistress is the CFO for Aldrin labs. They are a competing company in omni-tool manufacturing. These photos can end his career, or maybe get him killed."

"Okay, but what's a CF-" Before she could finish her question, Moira's voice was drowned out by the first intelligible phrase they had heard yelled from the garage.

"No, Alpha!"

Everyone froze where they were. Any side conversations that had been going on stopped mid-phrase. The voice had been Esteban's. The tension in the air could be cut with a dull knife. No one ever told Alpha "No."

"We have to see what's going on inside." Alex's voice was shaking. Alpha was unstable and aggressive at the best of times, and if what Donny had told her about his earlier mood was true, this was going to get far worse if they couldn't find out what was going on, and stop it.

"Sorry, kid, but no one is allowed inside. Esteban's orders. Plus," Donny's full attention was on the building again, "let's be honest. No one is dumb enough to go in there now, after that."

"Alex." Moira got the other girl's attention before gesturing toward the potential answer to their problems, "What about the drone?"

"Of course!" Alex pulled up the drone's software protocols on her omni-tool while still addressing her friend. "Moira, help me find an open window." There were always at least a few open windows on the garage. Having them all sealed up was both stupid and dangerous, with the amount of chemical fumes they dealt with on a regular basis. Technically, they probably could have installed some sort of filtration unit and kept the place sealed at all times, but Alpha was cheap, so they used fans and opened windows as often as they could.

The yelling from inside was getting even worse, if that was even possible. While the voices were not getting louder, their tone had changed from one of disagreement and frustration to outright hostility. Moira scanned the building quickly. "There." She pointed to a medium-sized window just left of the main garage door. Without a word, Alex sent the drone on its course inside. The audio and visual feeds popped up as Donny and Moira crowded around Alex, watching the feed on her omni-tool.

Silently, the drone made its way upward and through the open window. Alex guided it to settle on top of a stack of crates close to four and a half meters off the ground. It was close enough for a good visual but not so close as to be spotted easily. Alpha and Esteban were almost toe-to-toe in their faceoff. While Esteban was taller than Alpha, he generally tried not to use it against his leader, out of respect. Now, however, Esteban appeared to be looming over the smaller man. The audio feed was cutting in and out, but Alex did all she could to compensate. When she was finally able to clear the signal, Esteban's was the first voice they heard.

"…ry about Talia and the rest. I know you're angry, that you want revenge, but you don't need to replace Talia this fast, and certainly not with Alex!"

Alex swallowed hard, both of her companions too shocked to react. Talia had been Alpha's woman, the Alpha bitch of the gang. Alex's mind was swimming. How could his whole inner circle be dead? And what could Esteban mean by replacing Talia with her? Before she could get any more lost in her own thoughts, Alpha's rumbling bass came through.

"You don't know shit, Esteban. These fuckers are trying to take everything from me. You think I'm bad now, wait until I get my fuckin' claws into them. I'll make them suffer like you wouldn't believe." The small group could see their leader practically vibrate with rage. Alpha was always just on the edge of extreme violence, but now it just seemed to come from every pore.

"And we will make them suffer! No one messes with us. As soon as the girls get back with the photos, we can get the extra supplies from Kassa. We need them in order to send those fuckers back to whatever sewer they crawled out of, but there is no reason to replace Talia yet. Fuck, man, she hasn't even been dead an hour! You owe her more than that!"

Alpha stepped even closer, jamming his finger into Esteban's chest, spittle flying from his mouth as he bellowed, "Don't you fucking try to tell me what to do, you piece of shit! Talia was with me for a while, but what kind of Alpha would I be without a lead bitch?! I'd be a goddamn laughing stock!"

"We have other women in the pack, that aren't _fourteen_ fucking years old! You're thirty-three, Alpha, over twice her age. It's fucking sick!"

"Why should I fucking care? She's in my gang. She's my property, just like you fucking are. First we get the guns from that stupid Kassa mother fucker, then I get the girl."

It was all Alex could do to stay on her feet. She felt sick to her stomach at the thought of Alpha talking about her like that. The thought that he wanted to… She really did stumble a bit then. Donny's arm shot out and grabbed her under the arm, keeping her upright. Moira took Alex's free hand in hers and squeezed as they continued to watch the scene play out on the monitor.

They watched as Esteban reached out and shoved Alpha's left shoulder, sending the smaller man stumbling back a step. Esteban's voice softened just a bit. "I have been with you since the very beginning, man, but if you try and pull this shit with Alex, I'm done. I'll take the kids and most of my crew with me, and I'll go."

As the group watched, Alpha stilled. No one in his organization had ever laid a hand on him before, let alone spoken to him like that. Faster than they could register, Alpha had closed the distance between himself and Esteban, one arm wrapped around his old friend in what looked like an embrace, with Esteban bent over just far enough for his forehead to touch their leader's, arms at his side. From the omni-tool's feed, the embrace looked tender and brotherly. Relief washed over Alex.

Suddenly, Esteban's eyes opened wide with fear and pain, his body slumping to the ground out of Alpha's arms like a dead weight. Only when Esteban was on the ground was the video feed able to see the dark red stain blossoming right under Esteban's ribcage and the long, slightly curved knife in Alpha's hand. As Esteban's coughed, blood came spurting in a fine mist and dribbled out of the corners of his mouth. Alex, Moira, and Donny were struck motionless with horror at what they just witnessed. No one else around them had seen what had happened. Whispered murmurs picked up all around them in response to the silence in the garage.

Inside, Alpha kneeled next to Esteban, who was struggling to breathe, his blood continuing to spill from the wound and his mouth to stain the concrete. He coughed weakly and stared defiantly up into his leader's eyes. "I'll find a way to stop you."

Alpha's eyes were cold as ice as he put the knife to his Beta's throat, his voice low and almost eerily calm. "No. You won't." Before Alpha could slice open the other man's throat, a scream of rage split the air, staying his hand.


	6. Ch 6: Wrath

Outside on the driveway, everyone turned to stare at Alex; her scream echoing off of the buildings around them. Something inside the normally happy-go-lucky girl had snapped. She watched in horror on her omni-tool's monitor as Alpha stood and began to walk toward the door leading outside, still holding his knife. Her fingers flew over the display as she, too, began striding toward the garage door.

Back inside the garage, the drone flew from its hiding spot and rushed towards Alpha. The man still did not realize the drone was there, at least not until its 3,000 mW laser shot him in the hand, causing him to cry out in pain and drop the knife. As Alex made her way to the door, picking up speed, the drone was busy inside harrying the larger man with the laser, shooting at his feet, his hands, and his face. One well-aimed shot caught Alpha in the left eye. The eye sizzled and ruptured, intraocular fluid spilling down his face. Alpha dropped to his knees, screaming in pain and clutching at the now useless socket. Moira and Donny finally came out of their stupor and ran after Alex, who made it to the garage door and flung it open.

In only moments, she took in the scene before her with a nearly perfect objective clarity. She saw Esteban on the ground a few meters away, the puddle around him continuing to grow, but at a much slower pace than before. She also saw Alpha on his knees, screaming in pain, the drone hovering over him. His face was wet with ocular fluid and the blood that had coated his hand when he stabbed Esteban. It was also then that Alex spotted the Hanne-Kedar Kessler pistol sitting fully cleaned and assembled on the work bench next to her.

She picked up the pistol and continued to move into the building, Donny and Moira finally catching up and standing in the doorway, taking in the scene,. Behind her she could hear Donny swearing, but she didn't register it. Alex had gone numb inside. As she approached Alpha, he stopped screaming and glared at her with his one remaining eye. She watched his gaze flick to the knife that lay only about a foot away from her. It was too far away for him to grab. Without taking her eyes off of Alpha, Alex kicked the knife ever father away and stopped walking just outside Alpha's reach, staring at the disfigured man with empty eyes.

Alpha growled up at her, "You stupid bitch, you're going to pay for this. I'm going to kill you with my bare hands."

With that, a cold smile spread across Alex's lips as she raised the gun to point directly at the center of Alpha's chest. "No. You won't." Her voice was even and calm as she pulled the trigger. With no armor at all, the man's chest burst into a wad of hamburger as Alex unloaded four shots into it at point-blank range. The placement was good enough to shred the heart and lungs, the impact knocking Alpha off his knees and onto his back. Alex strode the last few steps forward. She knew the man was already dead, but pointed at his head anyway, unloading two more shots, one through his remaining eye and one through the center of his forehead.

"Kid, what have you done?"

Alex, her eyes still cold, turned to face Donny, who was looking at her with an odd combination of fear and pride. "I put down a rabid dog, that's what I've done."

In the confusion, Moira had slipped off to the sleeping area and was doing…something Alex couldn't quite tell what it was. The others who had been standing outside began to crowd into the doorway. There were gasps and loud whispering. The only thing keeping the small group from coming inside was Donny acting as bouncer.

From behind her Alex heard a wet cough. She spun on her heels to see Esteban barely hanging on. Running over, she dropped to his side, completely ignoring the pool of blood where she now kneeled. "Esteban? I'm here. We're going to get you help. You'll be okay." She placed the gun down outside the red pool and pressed her hands over his wound. She knew that it was a bad sign when blood didn't cover her hands instantly.

Esteban turned his head away from the young girl and coughed. More fine red mist was expelled. Once he was done, he turned back to look at Alex. "No, Kid. I'm not going to be okay. We both know that, so let's cut the bullshit."

Whatever had gone numb in Alex when she saw Esteban get stabbed went away as fast as it had come. The emotional floodgates slammed open and Alex began to sob, "But what am I gonna do without you? Where am I gonna go? You're all I've got."

"You're not alone. You have Moira, Donny, and Marco. Not to mention you'll always have me watching over you, Kid. And as far as where to go?" He gripped her hands with what strength he had left and held her gaze. "You get as far away from here as you fucking can, and you make something of yourself. You're better than this; smarter than this." He smiled at her gently and playfully. "You're my family, Kid. The little sister I never had. I love you, and I'm proud of you for killing that dumb fuck." He turned his head away once more and coughed weakly.

Alex squeezed his hands back. "I love you too, Esteban."

She felt a small hand touch her shoulder. She continued holding Esteban's hands, but turned to look up at Moira. A duffel bag lay on the ground a couple meters behind her. It looked mostly full. Moira kept her hand on Alex's shoulder as she looked down to Esteban. "I'll stay with her. We both know that without someone keeping an eye on her, she'll end up blowing up a city block before too long."

All Esteban could do was nod, a faint smile on his lips. "Good. Thanks, Moira." He gave Alex's hands one last squeeze before he closed his eyes. His last thoughts before he drifted away were of Alex. The one good thing he'd ever done in his life was to help that lost little girl. At least he knew that with Moira, she wouldn't be alone again.

Even after she knew he was gone, Alex just couldn't seem to bring herself to leave Esteban. Her pant legs and hands were soaked in his blood, and her body was racked by sobs. Donny came up behind her and spoke in low hushed tones. "I'm sorry, Kid. I wish I could give you more time to mourn, but we need to get you out of here. The other guys and I have your back, and we're gonna try and get this place cleaned up, but it's not safe for you here anymore." His eyes turned to Moira, who still stood behind Alex, a hand on her shoulder. "For either of you. Other gangs already wanted this territory and Alpha was the only one strong enough to hold it all. It's going to turn into a clusterfuck. We need to get you cleaned up, pack a couple bags, and send you out on a transport up north. I have some cousins up in San Francisco who can watch out for you for a bit. Won't be easy, but it'll have to do for now."

"Come on, Alex. Time to get you up and out of here." Moira pulled Alex away from Esteban and walked her to the showers.

The next several hours went by in a haze. She showered and changed out of the bloody clothes. Moira had packed most of the essentials, including food, water, clothing, some cash, and light blankets. When Alex came out of the showers, she began to move with a purpose. Esteban's last wish had been for her to get out of there, so that was what she was going to do. In her own duffel, she packed up her drone, her toy spaceship, and several of her more important datapads, including the one Esteban had given her for her birthday. Once they had packed all the essentials, the girls went to speak with Donny. The garage crew had cleared away the bodies and most of the blood, with Donny directing the cleanup crew, but was now on his omni-tool chatting with some man that Alex didn't recognize.

"Okay, cuz, thanks. I'll let you know when to expect us." The image disappeared from his wrist as he turned to face the girls. "That was my cousin John. He runs a newer gang called the Tenth Street Reds. So far, he's been able to hold onto some turf with nothing but muscle, but that won't last long. I told him about the skills you two picked up here, and he said he could use you. He's a hardass, but as long as both of you do half as well as you did here, you'll be fine. Normally, I'd send you on the high-speed rail, but I'm gonna take you up there myself, since I doubt your packs will pass screening with these in them." Donny reached behind him to grab two pistols. One was an Elkoss Combine Edge, and the other was the Kessler Alex had used earlier. Donny made sure to hand the Kessler to Alex and the Edge to Moira. "Make sure to keep each other safe."

Both young women nodded to him, but it was Moira who spoke up. "We will."

"Ok, then, let's get you out of here." With that, Donny turned and headed outside, Moira on his heels.

Alex couldn't help but take one last look around. This had been her home for six years, and with one stab of a knife, it had been taken away. She looked at the faint remains of the blood stain on the floor that had once been Esteban. She wouldn't allow herself to fall apart now; they had to get out of there before the turf war came crashing down. As she walked out of the building, she didn't even acknowledge the men around her, all of them too stunned and busy getting everything in order to take much notice of her.

"Alex, come on. We need to go!" Moira called out to her from the skycar.

"Coming." Her hand on the door of the garage, she bowed her head. "Goodbye, Esteban." With that, she closed the garage door behind her and loped toward the waiting skycar.


	7. Ch 7: Reds

San Francisco - 2168

On the ride up to San Francisco, Donny told the girls that John only had two rules: Follow the chain of command, and don't start something you can't finish. He also made sure to explain that the Tenth Street Reds were made up almost entirely of meatheads who were used to getting their way, so a show of force was the only thing that would earn their respect.

They made the trip in only a little over three hours. If there hadn't been traffic, it would have been two at most but, come on, it was California. On the way up, all three of them discussed what to do if certain circumstances were to arise upon arrival. While John had been told what to expect, his boys would could be expected to either have an issue with two teenage girls joining them, or be far too excited about it..

Over the past year, the Tenth Street Reds had taken over their territory using a combination of violence, blackmail, and bribery in order to secure their hideout. Oddly, the hideout was a 24-hour self-storage complex. It did provide a way to launder their ill-gotten funds, as well as a place for John to stay and watch over their merchandise with plenty of security.

After Donny pulled the skycar into the storage complex, the three of them made their way to a large empty unit at the back of the complex, the girls' bags in tow. John was waiting there with ten other men, all of them large and menacing. Alex looked over the room. It appeared to be a combination hang out and meeting space, with several couches, a couple tables, a large vid screen, a small fridge, and bags of red sand lying about.

"John! It's good to see you, cuz. Thanks for helping us out." Donny walked over to his relative, arms open wide, with a smile on his face. The biggest difference between the two men was in their personalities. Where Donny was open and jovial, sometimes reminding Alex of a younger version of Santa Claus, John was very closed-off and stoic. When it came to appearances, however, the two men looked as though they could have been twins instead of cousins, though John's beard was far less impressive.

With a grunt, John allowed himself to be hugged before taking a step back and motioning toward the two girls. "It won't be a problem if these two are as good as you say they are."

Alex stood to Donny's right, with Moira slightly behind her. Both girls kept their faces neutral. They knew how to handle men like these. Setting her bag, which was about halfway open, onto the ground, Alex took several steps toward John. Donny had told her that his cousin responded best when others were direct and showed respect and deference. If it meant that she could find a place for herself here, away from L.A., she'd play the game. She looked right into his eyes and kept her tone crisp and polite as she responded, "Sir, I'm Alex, and that's Moira." Alex gestured back toward Moira, who nodded with respect to the large man. "And we're not just good. We're the best."

One of the younger men in the group, who couldn't have been more than twenty-four, mangy-looking, with noticeably dyed blonde hair and muddy brown eyes, stepped forward. He leered at Alex, looking her up and down with lascivious intent, his voice dripping with condescension. "Well now, what could a pretty young thing like you know about tech or stealth recon?"

A malicious smile spread across Alex's face. Now was the time for the show of force Donny had talked about. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Moira, who had been ignored throughout the conversation as always, had moved silently behind the man. "We know plenty."

With that, Moira kicked out at the back of the man's legs, making contact with the back of his knees. As he dropped, Moira pulled the gun Donny had given her from its holster on her hip, pistol-whipping the man across the back of his head and sending him sprawling. He landed face-down on the ground at Alex's feet, the back of his head bleeding profusely.

"Who the fuck do you little cunts think you are?" Another older, slightly smaller man near the back of the room sprang forward, his hand reaching under his jacket for what they could safely assume was a gun. Moira nimbly darted back to slightly behind and to the right of Donny. Alex stayed where she was, about a meter in front of the pair, her fingers flying over her Omni-tool display. Almost as fast as the man drew and pointed his gun at Moira, the small drone popped out of Alex's half-open bag and fired its powerful little laser at the man's hand.

With a yowl of pain, the man dropped his gun, only to find Alex's, which she had removed from its holster at her lower back, pointed directly at his face. While it was normal for Alex to shoot someone or something with a laser, it was utterly out of character for her to pull a gun on someone. Then again, it had only been hours since she had killed a man and seen Esteban die right in front of her eyes as she held his hands. That had changed everything.

Everyone froze, unsure of what to do next, but Alex's aim did not waiver. The silence was broken by a loud basso laugh. All eyes, except for Alex's, which remained upon the older man, turned toward the source of the laughter. It was John. John hadn't made a sound during the entirety of the short altercation, but now he was laughing so hard that tears began to streak down his face.

"What the hell, boss! This isn't funny! That first one knocked Chuck the fuck out, and that bitch" he pointed toward Alex "pulled a gun on me and shot me with her fucking toy."

John wiped the tears from his eyes and took a moment to compose himself before his eyes went cold once more. With a speed that Alex didn't think possible from a man so large, John reached out and decked the older man squarely across the jaw, sending him to the floor. "Now Dante, you and Chuck know the rule: don't start something you can't finish. These two young ladies only finished what you started." Then, he turned to face his cousin. "You were right, Donny. I can definitely use both of them. And you can lower that gun now, miss."

Alex's eyes finally left the man, who John had called Dante, lowering her gun. As she made her way back to Donny's side, she gave the first man, Chuck, who was still groaning on the ground, a sharp kick to the ribs. Once she returned to Donny's right side, she watched the room with calculating eyes. The other eight men simply stood there, watching either the girls or their leader; though, she did catch one man near the back of the group as he looked down at the two men on the floor, then looked up at Alex and Moira in turn, giving them each a nod of approval.

Stepping forward toward the girls, John extended his hand to Moira first, shaking it firmly before moving to shake Alex's. "Good job. Anyone one who can take down two of my guys as fast and effectively as you two did is someone I want on my side." Pointing to the drone, he inquired of the girls, "One of you build that?"

Nodding once, Alex responded, "Yeah, the body was an LAPD issue spy drone with some spare parts from a lot of different places. I modified it with a 3000mW laser, and it has camera, video and audio functions as well as a bunch of other spy and combat software programs. Some software was standard, and some I designed myself. Though, Moira did help me figure out what was needed for some of the more delicate recon work, since that's her thing."

A very small and impressed smile passed over John's face as he looked back and forth between the two girls. With a grunt of approval he turned back to face the rest of his men. "These two young ladies are now in charge of maintenance and recon…especially since the little one was able to get the drop on our last head of recon." He gestured toward Chuck, still unconscious on the ground. At least his head wound had stopped bleeding. "And let what happened to Chuck and Dante be a lesson to all of you. You are NOT to touch these girls. They have my permission to defend themselves in any way they desire, up to and including killing your sorry asses. And if they don't take you out, I will. Do I make myself clear?"

If the other men in the room were insulted by having teenage girls newly placed in ranks of power in their gang, they didn't show it. A quite wave of "yeah, boss" or "yessir" came from the eight conscious men. John turned his head to look over his shoulder at Alex and Moira. "Welcome to the Tenth Street Reds, kids."


	8. Ch 8: Plotting

San Francisco - 2170

The first two years were both busy and difficult. Land was always at a premium, so when any group wanted to expand, it was a war of attrition, even for the Tenth Street Reds. Moira had an easier time of it, as she had taken over an already established position with three other men below her, but Alex was on her own. Donny had been right about his assessment of the crew: they were meatheads. When Alex took up her new position, there was literally a pile of beaten up and abused weaponry, spy gear, and even a couple of broken vidscreens, just gathering dust as it waited to be repaired. When she was in the Wolf Pack, Esteban had been the one in charge, and there had been other crew members to help, but here with the Reds, Alex was on her own for the first several weeks.

There were many sleepless nights, but she was able to keep everything repaired and functional. She even got the extra vidscreens working again. Moira's crew managed to bring back enough supplies, over time, to make a pair of motion-activated turrets to guard the more valuable storage blocks. John was thoroughly impressed by both young women, and as the Reds' territory expanded, Alex and Moira found themselves in charge of two small but effective groups of men.

In the beginning, whenever anyone joined the gang and knew how to hold a hammer properly, Alex would recruit them and try to show them the basics. Some worked out and some didn't. After a year of constant fighting and territory expansion, the pool of tech mechanics was actually rather impressive. While none of them were as good as Alex with the guns and explosives, there were now members who could reliably fix the cars or the fridge without something going wrong, in most cases. The hours were still long, but both Alex and Moira were respected, and no one tried to mess with them like they had on that first night. It helped that both girls were constantly armed, and that Chuck had a large scar on the back of his head where hair no longer grew back, from where Moira had pistol-whipped him.

Two years in, John was still aggressively trying to expand the Reds, but problems kept arising. His established territory encompassed the South of Market area including the Castro, but a rival group, The Golden Onez based in the Lower Haight, were fighting hard to keep control of their region and take the Castro from the Reds. The Reds were spread too thin, and there were too many cliques and random "problem youth" roaming around causing mischief, making trouble inside the gang's turf. Alex watched this all happen. While she saw no real front line action, she still accompanied Moira occasionally out into the field to keep up on her skills and to perform field tests on new equipment. She also heard the official reports, as well as the various crew members bitching, when they brought in their gear to be repaired.

One day, Alex sat next to the window of a small coffee shop in the Castro, enjoying a cup of tea. It was the middle of the afternoon in May, and Alex was going over Moira's latest reports and editing her own list of required materials. Normally, she didn't go out during the day. She was a high ranking member of the Tenth Street Reds, and she was an easy target to spot with her red hair, but it was Friday the 13th, so she was feeling a bit mischievous.

The events that had caused Alex relocation to The City had made her more somber, though when it came to her closest friends like Moira, or Donny, who visited on occasion, she would lighten up considerably. In general, she was still sarcastic and would joke around, but she always had a business-like attitude and had lost that air of innocence that she had kept, thanks to Esteban, through those first difficult years in Los Angeles. However, she still did love playing with lasers: popping car tires, zapping people in the ass from afar, and setting things on fire. Some of the gang tags had to be refreshed, so she was out and about today. Plus, school had just let out for the day, so she finally had the opportunity to check out some people her own age.

At sixteen, she was still one of the youngest gang members. She didn't have a lot of chances to socialize, since her work normally kept her glued to her work bench. She liked hanging out in the Castro because, ever since the 20th century, it had been the heart of the queer community in San Francisco. While concepts like homophobia were now as outdated as racism, she still felt more comfortable in this area of town. As a large group of teenagers roughly her age walked by, Alex noticed two of the boys check her out shamelessly. A pretty brunette at the back of the group also looked at Alex and winked subtly before moving on. _This is why I come here: the view, _Alex smiled to herself as she kept typing.

She had really begun to come into her looks over the past year. While still slightly gawky, being a teenager and all, she was taller than average and lean, but well-muscled. Her experience commanding her own small squad had also given her a confidence that tended to draw people in when they talked to her. Alex preferred to identify as queer, a non-specific term that simply meant that she was not straight. She had gotten some light-hearted teasing from a couple of her tech guys to just make up her mind and pick a side, but that was not the way she saw it. She mostly preferred other girls, but some guys still caught her attention as well. Though, the boys she found attractive tended to be gay, which set them outside of her dating pool anyway. Not that she would date anyway. She loved to flirt, but her line of work was too dangerous for anything serious. With how aggressive the Golden Onez were being, if they found out any of the higher-ups were with anyone romantically, they might try to use them as leverage.

Remembering the problem with the Golden Onez sobered Alex considerably, as the simple joy of being checked out by the other teenagers simply vanished. She downed the rest of her tea, leaving the empty cup on the table, and left. She walked down 18th street towards Dolores Park. The last thing she had to do was freshen up those tags near the MUNI tracks, thenshe could go home. The Reds' paint kept getting tagged over by the Golden Onez, so this time, she had brought a laser she had modified to make it strong enough to burn into the concrete. _No way this one is gonna come out or be covered up_.

As she approached the tagged wall, her omni-tool beeped with a message from John. _Fuck, not another meeting._ She opened the message and quickly looked it over. Apparently, a local drug lord named Vincent Chang was making headway into their territory, as Alex had suspected from some of Moira's previous reports. _Looks like John finally realizes there's a problem._ Alex knew that if the too-fast expansion, the Golden Onez' incursion, and the new problems with Chang weren't dealt with, and fast, the Reds would collapse under their own weight. It would create a nasty power vacuum. Something had to be done.

As she rounded the corner onto Church Street, she closed out the message, sighing to herself, _Guess it's time to start plotting_. After several buildings, Alex came to the small space between the buildings that was used for deliveries, where she needed to freshen up the Reds' mark with her new laser. She pulled her laser out of her jacket pocket, twirling it between her fingers, ready to burn the mark into the wall. As she walked up, she noticed a figure in dark clothing and a hoodie, tagging over both the Reds' mark as well as the Golden Onez' mark. A predatory smile crossed Alex's face. She changed her grip on her laser and slipped into her well-practiced stealth mode. Her mystery target was none the wiser as she closed the distance. With skillful speed and efficiency, she jammed the blunt point of her laser into the person's side with her right hand. She knew that, through clothing, it would feel like a small pistol. Her left arm wrapped around the person's chest, pinning their arms into place. She growled into their ear, dropping her voice into a more masculine range, "Stay still if you don't want to get hurt. Now tell me, what the fuck do you think you're doing marking up the Tenth Street Reds' territory?"

The smaller person struggled a bit, but Alex held on tighter, shoving the laser hard against their ribcage. "I said, stay still. Now, this will be the last time I ask nicely. What the fuck do you think you're doing marking up the Reds' territory?"

The person finally stilled as a slightly higher pitched male voice spoke up, "The Reds don't give two shits about all of us over here. Neither do the Golden Onez. Unless you're a big macho male they don't give a fuck about you."

"And what do you mean by 'all of us'?" Alex loosened her grip just the slightest bit.

"All of us, the forgotten ones; women, runaways, the queer teens… Hell, there are even a fair amount of younger kids running around the street with no one watching out for them. There are a lot of us, and we just get ignored and are expected to take the abuse of whoever takes over. We're sick of it."

The wheels started spinning in Alex's mind. A plan was forming, but she needed more information. "Do you all have any more formalized group? A gang or anything?" She forgot that she had originally dropped her voice, as the excitement over the ideas racing through her mind brought it back up to its normal pitch.

"Uh… no?" Her captive was obviously confused.

Alex released her captive and spun him around, gripping his right shoulder once he faced her. She shoved the laser back into her pocket as the hoodie fell back, revealing the face of a young black kid who couldn't have been more than thirteen, and who either hadn't even started puberty, or was in the very early stages of it. He was shorter than Alex by a couple inches, his head was shaved, and his eyes, which were olive-colored, widened as he looked up at Alex. She was obviously not what he had expected to see. Her voice was animated as she addressed him. "What's your name, kid?"

"T-Thomas…"

"Well, Thomas, my name is Alex. I'm the third in command for the Tenth Street Reds, and I think I may have an idea that'll help us both out. Feel like chatting with me and a friend? Come on, I'll buy you some pizza." Before the young man could even respond, she started walking back toward the Castro, obviously expecting him to follow. Using a priority channel on the omni-tool, she sent a message to Moira, asking her to meet her at a pizza place down the street.

Thomas, slightly dumbfounded by the whole experience, followed Alex back towards the heart of the Castro. The wall, which they had originally fought over, remained partially tagged by Thomas, and completely forgotten by Alex.

Moira choked on her slice of pizza, and Thomas did a spit-take with his soda, as Alex laid out her plan to them. This got them a number of dirty looks from other patrons. Moira was the first to recover, speaking in hushed tones, "Alex, are you nuts? John would never go for that."

"Why not?" Alex seemed genuinely confused. Her plan seemed sound to her. Why wouldn't John agree?

"Yeah, Alex, I don't know if I could get the others to agree to this, either." It was Thomas who spoke up next, from behind a napkin he was using to clean his face from the soda dripping down his chin from the spit-take.

"We have to try. It solves all of our problems, you guys. Thomas, all of your people end up with power and protection, and we make the Golden Onez disappear. It's a win-win!" Alex was positively vibrating with enthusiasm and excitement. It was the first time since before she had left Los Angeles that she was this excited over a plan coming together.

Moira and Thomas looked at each other across the table. Alex was right, the plan was a good one, and it fixed all their problems with a couple extra bonuses. Thomas sighed and ran a hand over his shaved head. "How do I even know I can trust you two?"

That caused Alex to calm down a bit and get back to business. She looked Thomas right in the eye as she responded, "Honestly, you don't. But you know of my gang's rep and the power we hold. And though you may not have heard of Moira, the sneaky bitch," she turned to grin at her friend, winking before turning back to Thomas, serious once more, "I know you've heard of me, though I may not be what you expected. I'm the one who designs all the mods and upgrades, as well as other fun tools for the Reds. If you follow my idea, I can give you what you need."

Thomas thought about it for several minutes in silence, the girls watching him as they finished their food. Finally, Thomas nodded. "Okay. There are several cliques around, in this area and in yours, which fit the description of what we're talking about. I'll get into contact with them and set up a meeting. If you can convince them, we should be able to get this thing off the ground."

Alex's face split into a huge grin as she reached out and grasped Thomas' right hand, shaking it exuberantly. "Smart move, kid. Now, let's get this started."


	9. Ch 9: Forgotten

It took a week, but Thomas set up the meeting as planned. Both Alex and Moira came, as well as leaders from two larger cliques and four smaller cliques, representing about forty people in all. The meeting took all night and continued for two more nights after that. Between meeting with the cliques and dealing with John's meetings, Alex had gotten almost no sleep for the past week and a half. Thankfully, after the three nights of meetings with the cliques, the leaders agreed to Alex's plan. The most difficult part, though, was yet to come. Now, she had to get John to agree.

The following night, there was another meeting for the top ten members of the Reds, including Alex and Moira. First, there was a discussion of doing some business with the minor drug lord, Vincent Chang, who had a firm grasp on the Red Sand dealings in the Financial District and Fisherman's Wharf. After that came the discussion of what to do with the Golden Onez. Over the past week, their advances had become increasingly desperate, even including a car bomb that, thanks to quick thinking on Moira's part, had not resulted in any injuries.

John looked even more exhausted than Alex did, as he ran his fingers through his beard. "I hate to admit it, but I'm all out of ideas. We could just keep pushing back at the bastards, but that is just costing us in the end. They're tenacious motherfuckers."

If there was ever an opportunity to bring up their plan, it was now. Alex had to be careful, though, since things could go very wrong, very fast if they didn't play this right. She turned to look at Moira, who gave her the smallest of nods. _Well, it's now or never._ Alex spoke up, "Actually, boss, I've got an idea."

John sighed, using his right index finger and thumb to rub his eyebrows. "Sure, why the fuck not. What's your idea, kid?"

Alex froze for the briefest of moments. No one called her that, not anymore. Not since Esteban. She took a moment to regain her composure, took a deep breath, and began. "For the past week, I've been in talks with some of the cliques in our territory. They are tired of being ignored by the big players, and want to fight back. They-"

John held up his left hand, silencing her. He dropped his right hand from his face, eyes like ice as he glared at Alex. His voice dripped with venom. "You going behind my back, Alex?"

This was the first part where things could go seriously wrong. From the corner of her eye, Alex could see Moira move into position near the weapons bench. A Tsunami model assault rifle was there, ready for Moira to use if the need arose. Alex straightened up, looking right into her leader's eyes. "No sir, just trying to fix two problems. You ignore those cliques, like all the gangs do. You just see them as a nuisance or cannon fodder. But actually, they are the women, the teens, the outcasts that no one else wants, and they have agreed to follow me."

John growled through his teeth, "Follow you?"

"Yes, follow me. There are forty of them that are used to guerilla tactics and have agreed to help the Reds take out the Golden Onez once and for all. After that's done, we can form our own group, The Forgotten, and we can take control of the Castro and the Golden Onez territory in the Lower Haight. If they have any extra territory outside of the Lower Haight, it's yours. We'll act like a sister gang, so to speak, to the Reds. We take the kids, runaways and nuisances from your main territory and have your back against any other gang uprisings against the Reds, in exchange for that territory. Also, while I'll be the leader of the Forgotten, the Reds get access to any new tech I develop for them, as well. It's a win-win situation."

Everyone stood, frozen, waiting for John to respond. After a minute, he finally spoke up in his normal tone of voice, "And why shouldn't I just wipe those cliques out of existence for plotting against me?"

Inwardly, Alex sighed with relief. John was extremely controlling, but he was smart and could be reasoned with, and his mind changed when presented with sound logic. She continued, "Because you would be losing valuable allies. The forty that I mentioned are only the start. Plus, boss, even you've admitted that you were getting stretched thin. While they wouldn't be Reds, they would be allies, and any troops you send to take them out are ones you aren't sending at the real problem."

For another several minutes, everyone was still, waiting for John, who had his head bowed in thought. Alex remained calm. As long as John wasn't actively trying to kill her for this stunt, it was a good sign. Finally, John raised his head and his eyes fell on Moira. "I guess you would be leaving, too, then, huh?"

Moira nodded. "Yes, sir. All my guys are well trained, and as long as Chuck doesn't act like a complete douchebag, he can lead well."

"And as far as my guys go, Motor and Fuentes have everything handled. They're even working on new stuff of their own, and like I said, the Reds would still get access to any new tech I developed, as well," Alex added quickly, sensing John's approval might be coming.

With a heavy sigh, John nodded. "Ok, fuck it. Fine. Like I said, I've got no new ideas. And if you're right, Alex, which I'm still not sure you are, this will fix a lot of issues. But first, I want to talk to these cliques myself. If everything seems legit to me, we've got a deal." He extended his hand to her.

While Alex was jumping up and down on the inside from excitement, she remained calm and reserved on the outside. She took John's hand firmly and shook it. "I assure you, sir, it's legit and you won't regret it." Once more, out of the corner of her eye, she could see Moira move. This time, though, it was away from the weapons table.

During John's multiple negotiation sessions with the Forgotten cliques, the one thing that Alex truly had on her side was time. While she would be taking over the new gang, it wouldn't be until the Golden Onez were deposed. Until then, they were the Reds', or more specifically, John's problem. In order to keep the Golden Onez at bay during negotiations, guerilla strike teams, including one from The Forgotten, were sent out to keep them on their toes and buy the groups more time to negotiate. Alex knew where The Forgotten and John wouldn't bend, so she had to be smart about it. While the cliques may not have trusted her yet, she did know how to handle John, so they let her take the lead.

Along with the concessions Alex had already promised to John, the following agreements were made: 1) both gangs were allowed to range freely among the territories, but all rules were to be followed; 2) both gangs were truly autonomous, i.e., the hierarchy from one gang could not influence the other; and 3) when a legitimate call for help was issued, the other group would respond. There were other details, such as the Reds offering up extra supplies for startup, and The Forgotten sending some extra help the Reds' way during the transition period.

"Okay, Alex. Anything else, or are we done?" John was exhausted and the Golden Onez had been getting worse. The previous night, Moira had sent out a message to all parties that their mutual enemy was preparing for an all-out assault in just a matter of days. However, before John could go home, there were two points Alex absolutely needed him to concede. Without those two points, the whole negotiation would be for nothing.

"Only two more things, John, and then we're done and can take those fuckers out."

"Ugh, fine. What is it?"

It was now or never. The first point would be easier for him to swallow. "Since we will be taking in all the unwanted and younger kids from around both territories, we all need to know that they will be treated safely and well. So, if I find out that anyone, from either side, has harmed any of these kids in any way, I need to know that they will be dealt with."

John's right eyebrow raised, "What do you mean, dealt with?"

"I mean that, depending on what they have done to the kid, it will range from an ass-kicking to never being seen again. This goes for my people as well as yours. It is also going to extend to the general populace of The Forgotten's turf."

The large man sighed, wiping a hand over his face, "Normally, I'd argue. But frankly, I need this over and done with. What's the second thing?"

This was going to be the difficult part, Alex did her best to keep her poker-face on. _Man, I wish Moira were here. She pulls off calm and collected like no one else._ Normally her support in these negotiations, Moira was currently on watch at the Golden Onez' headquarters, watching for early signs of movement. Alex took a deep calming breath, slowly letting it out before continuing, "There is to be no drug dealing in what is exclusively our turf. The first time someone is caught, they'll be shot in the knee. The second time will be through the head. All merchandise found will be destroyed."

Startlingly fast for a man his size, John was on his feet, palms down on the table in front of him. "Who the fuck do you think you are, making demands like that?! I need to move product in order to support us!"

Alex had been prepared for this type of reaction. She kept her calm demeanor. "I _think_ that I am the person who has had your back for two years. Without my mods and upgrades, you wouldn't be able to hold as much turf as you do. You wouldn't have the edge that you do now. I don't give two shits about what you do here in Tenth Street Reds territory, but if The Forgotten are taking in all the kids, I don't want that shit anywhere near them. You'll get some extra turf to make up what you lose from us, and with new turf comes new customers."

"We're losing sales to that fucker, Vincent Chang. We need to make up that lost income somehow."

"Don't forget, we don't want all of the Golden Onez' territory, either. We're not stupid enough to think we can hold it all while we're so new, so you'll get even more new customers that way. Also, that rule applies to _everyone_, including Chang, if he tries to move product within our borders." Alex held out her hand to the large man. "So, we got a deal?"

John simply stared at her hand as he contemplated. Was he really going to trust this sixteen-year-old kid and band of rejects to have his back? She had been right, though. He wouldn't have been able to jump-start the Reds' expansion without her, and now he had grown too fast and stretched himself too thin. He could lose everything, and while he may not like losing territory and sales area, he sure wasn't gonna be taken out by some dumb-fucks like the Golden Onez. Plus, he'd watched the girl closely over these past two years. She was smart and incredibly dangerous if you pushed the wrong buttons, but she was also true to her word.

With that John took her hand and shook. "Deal."

Within six hours, three small groups of the best-trained soldiers they could pull together assaulted the Golden Onez' main base in the MUNI tunnels near Duboce Park. Moira had done an amazing job, as always, monitoring their movement with help from Alex's drone. One of The Forgotten, a woman in her early twenties named Cecile, who had wanted to be a chemist before life had taken a nasty turn, had been able to mix up some highly effective knock-out gas. Hopefully, that would allow a small cleanup crew to come in and finish the gang off with minimal risk. Alex was able to modify some grenades to disperse the gas in the most effective way possible. So, in the very early morning hours, the leaders of the Golden Onez had only a couple moments to wonder what was happening as the steel door to their hideout opened and two canisters lobbed inside, before the door closed again. The grenades went off with a dull thud before the Golden Onez were knocked unconscious. Alex sat with Moira outside the tunnels, watching the feed from the drone that followed the cleanup crew into the building, all of them wearing gas masks. Their rivals inside were executed with precision so as not to cause any unneeded suffering. They weren't monsters, after all.

With the main body of the Golden Onez taken out in the first attack, it took two more weeks of hide-and-seek through the tunnels to find the gang's last remnants, but soon they were no more. During those weeks, Alex, Moira, Thomas, and a couple others went through the files at what had once been the main base for the Golden Onez. Alex's biggest problem, as the last pockets of resistance were being taken out, was figuring what to do for a headquarters. If she was going to be taking in kids, she couldn't keep them in the tunnels. It was Thomas who figured out the unlikely solution to their problem. He found an encrypted data pad that Alex was able to decode, containing the locations of several large stashes of Red Sand. Red Sand was a popular stimulant made out of refined element zero. It had biotic-enhancing properties, and also granted non-biotics some telekinetic biotic abilities, if only for a short while. Also, among the effects desired by its users was a brief, but intense, sensation of euphoria. She didn't want that stuff in her territory, but had a perfect idea of what to do with it. Alex smiled to herself. _Man, I'm getting good at solving multiple problems at once._

As a peace offering, Alex offered to sell all of the Red Sand to John and the Reds at a discounted price. John laughed and clapped Alex on the back, seeing the offer for what it was, and accepted the offer. Even after the discount, Alex had raised enough money to buy a house for the gang to use. Moira found a house that was perfect for their needs in the neighborhood between Duboce Park and Market Street. While not huge, it was more than enough to suit their needs. And while it may have been odd for a sixteen-year-old to approach the homeowners with a cash offer at asking price, who were they to turn it down?


	10. Ch 10: Jinx

It had been two months since Alex had taken over the Castro and Lower Haight regions, becoming the youngest gang leader in recent history. Alex sat on the stoop of her house late one night, reading her favorite datapad, _History's Most Notable Women of Science_. Since moving up to the City, she hadn't had as much time to read as she would have liked. Before, when she was working with the Reds, she had stayed occupied with repairs and leading her own small squad, but now that she was the head of her own gang and trying to keep her territory secure, she was busier than ever.

Thankfully, she had Thomas and Moira to help keep things running smoothly, but at the end of the day, all the final decisions came down to Alex. All of that responsibility seriously cut into her reading time, but now it was one-thirty in the morning and all her duties were done except for one: a delivery of new shield mods to John. The backpack that held the shields was sitting next to her. There were only about ten of them, so the bag was mostly empty and looked a little sad and droopy. In order to make the delivery, Alex had to wait for Moira to get back from her late night run, a sort of changing of the guard. The fog was thick that night. While not as bad as it could be, visibility was only a block at best. Alex zipped up her warm jacket all the way, flipping up the hood to cover her head, and settled in to read for a bit.

She had read the datapad countless times over during the past two years, still gleaning new information from it every time. This time, she decided to focus on one of her favorite women in the book, Hedy Lamarr. A famous actress during the mid-twentieth century, Lamarr had also been an inventor and brilliant mathematician. It was her, along with a man named George Antheil, who had invented an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping. That work had been necessary for the development of wireless communication in the later part of the twentieth century and had laid the groundwork for everything that had come after. Lamarr was definitely one of Alex's favorites. In fact, Alex was so enraptured by her reading that she didn't register Moira's approach until her friend plopped down on the stoop beside her.

Moira was always fast and quiet. With the fog as cover, one minute there was nothing, the next, Moira was there. Alex jumped a bit at that; normally, she was the only one who Moira didn't startle. She had gotten used to it from being around her friend so long. "Fuck, Moira! You scared the shit out of me!"

Her friend laughed. "Sorry, boss. I wasn't even trying to be stealthy. You were just so into that book that you didn't notice." Moira leaned over to examine what was on the datapad. "Still reading the datapad Esteban gave you?"

A pang of loss did a little dance in Alex's chest. She tried not to let it show, but a small smile crossed her face anyway as she thought of her old friend and his last gift to her. "Yeah, I still learn something new every time. Plus, some of these women were gorgeous as well as brilliant, and some came from even more messed-up backgrounds than I did. Why wouldn't I want to learn everything about them?"

Moira leaned over, nudging Alex's shoulder with her own. "Ya know, boss, if you keep your mind on all those gorgeous people in your books, you might miss a real one that comes along."

Alex snorted at that comment. She and Moira had had this conversation before. They were, in fact, teenagers, and hormones were always running wild. Alex knew that Moira wasn't hitting on her, though. For one thing, Moira was most definitely straight, for another, the two young women were more like siblings than anything. The biggest issue with Moira's suggestion was their line of work.

While Alex tried to run their gang like a democracy, trying to stay as nonthreatening as possible so as not to attract the attention of the police, there was no escaping the fact that it was a gang. Her people weren't thugs, necessarily, but they were con artists, thieves, spies, blackmailers and developers of weapon mods. While they did not extort people with violence, they did so with information. While they did not sell Red Sand, they did move counterfeit or stolen product. And when they had to, they killed people. That was how they supported themselves, under constant threat of attack from other groups.

Thankfully, the Forgotten's swift and efficient extermination of the Golden Onez had made other gangs cautious of dealing with what appeared to be a band of nothings. They were now reasonably respected, and everyone knew that they had the support of the Tenth Street Reds, as well. Despite all of the gains that her new little gang had made in the past two months, Alex's life simply was not one that was conducive to romance. Plus, she was still only sixteen. This wouldn't be her life forever – she had promised Esteban that – so there would be time for dating later.

"Moira, first of all, I told you not to call me 'boss.' To you, it's always 'Alex.' Secondly, we've had this conversation before. I honestly just don't see myself having a boyfriend or a girlfriend anytime soon. Hell, you know I plan on joining the Alliance once I turn eighteen. So, between this life and that one, I don't see anything more than a one-night stand happening before I turn twenty-five."

At that, Moira burst out laughing so hard that she doubled over and fell down one step.

Alex looked at her friend like she had lost her mind_. Maybe she _has_ finally lost it. _Her tone was cautious, "Uh, Moira? What the hell is so funny?"

Moira was still rolling on the steps, being extremely loud for so early in the morning, tears streaming down her face.

A light in the second story of the building across the street turned on, and a man's voice yelled down to them, "Quiet down out there!"

Moira bit down on her hand, forcing herself to calm down and breathe steady, deep breaths. After a few more seconds, she was calm enough to sit back on the step next to Alex. Her body still shaking a bit from laughter, she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Yeah, sorry, boss, I'm fine. But damn, that was a jinx if I ever heard one."

Alex's eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean, a jinx?" She knew Moira was superstitious, but that seemed to be going a bit too far.

"I mean that it's like someone talking about a no-hitter in baseball, you know the next person up to bat is going to get a hit. Or someone in a vid saying, 'What could possibly go wrong?' And then something horrible always goes wrong. By you saying that about romance, you have practically guaranteed that the next person you set eyes on, you will fall head over heels in love with."

That caused Alex's eyes to roll. "Okay, now that's just stupid. No way that's going to happen. Like I said, love just isn't in the cards for me."

Moira pointed right at Alex's face, her index finger just millimeters from her friend's nose, "That! That right there! If you had been some guy in a war vid, showing off a picture of your girl back home, you would have been shot right then. At this point, with how much you're jinxing yourself, if we weren't family I'd swear you'd be falling in love with _me_ right now."

Alex laughed then, though more quietly than Moira had. The whole concept, from the jinx to Moira's fear of Alex falling in love with her, was just ridiculous. She smacked her friend's hand away and shoved her lightly, sending Moira's butt scooting down a stair. Then with a soft grunt, Alex stood and stretched. She looked down at her omni-tool. "Well, it may be almost two in the morning, but I still need to make that delivery to John." She saved the point where she was in her book, then shut down her datapad.

Moira rose as well. "Okay, boss. I'll come with."

"Oh no you don't. I need you here to hold down the fort. Thomas is out doing who knows what, and I need to make the run personally. That leaves you to stay here and keep an eye on things. The drone is on sentinel duty inside and the security system is off. Don't turn it on until I get back. I still haven't gotten the security pad out here to work right, so I won't be able to get back in otherwise." Alex leaned down and grabbed the backpack, slinging it over one shoulder. "It's not that far, so I'm gonna walk. Plus, I could really use the chance to stretch my legs."

"Just make sure to be on the lookout for damsels in distress, or whatever their male equivalent is." Moira fluttered her eyelashes. "They will probably be your true love."

That drew a short bark of laughter from Alex. "One: the boys I like tend to act more like damsels anyway, and two: not gonna happen."

Moira headed inside. "And with that, I'm going inside to put fresh sheets on one of the spare beds, because at this point, you're gonna bring home a harem." She shut the door behind her, letting herself have the last word.

Alex simply shook her head as she began her walk toward Market Street and her old territory. She knew that she was safe making the run by herself. While she was a teenage girl, all the homeless people and thugs knew her and wouldn't mess with her. Plus, she still carried her trusty pistol with her, should anything truly dangerous arise. She reached Market and started walking south, going over the conversation with Moira in her mind. With all the talk about jinxes, Alex had to admit that she was a little nervous. _Nah, most everyone knows me or is already asleep. Nothing is gonna go wrong. _

A rumble like ominous thunder sounded from nearby, causing Alex to start. She turned to see that it was only the rattling of the F-line drawing near. She smacked herself lightly to snap herself out of it. Apparently, her chat with Moira had rattled her more than she had thought.


	11. Ch11: Knight

Pulling her jacket tighter around her and making sure her hood was up securely against the chill, Alex turned onto 10th Street. She was almost back home. Well, it wasn't her home anymore. Visibility was still crap due to the fog, but as she came up to Jessie Street, she heard a commotion as well as what sounded like a female voice in some kind of distress. She could hear Moira's voice in her head, teasing her. _Just make sure to be on the lookout for damsels in distress._ Alex unclipped her trusty pistol from its spot on her belt and quietly rounded the corner.

Quickly, she hid beside a dumpster. There were two people roughly thirteen meters ahead. From this distance, she wasn't able to make out details, but could clearly see a large figure looming over a smaller one. When the smaller form started to speak, the sound came to her ears as clearly as a bell.

"Please, sir, I only just got into town, and I'm lost. Please. Don't do this."

The person speaking was definitely a young woman, and she sounded frightened. Alex tightened her grip on her pistol. She had a bit of a knight-in-white-armor streak to her, and hated when anyone targeted women for crimes. Really, she hated when any minority was targeted, but, most likely due to that fact that she was a young woman herself, she particularly hated the power dynamic in front of her.

The larger form loomed closer to the smaller girl, a large knife in one hand. "That doesn't matter to me, girlie. Just hand over your money and your stuff, otherwise things are gonna get ugly."

A low growl rumbled through Alex's chest. She recognized that voice. It belonged to a drifter named Bosco who came through town a couple times a year, causing trouble. Obviously, he hadn't learned his lesson the last time she had kicked his ass. Last time he had come through town, he had decided to target some of the elderly in the area for some easy cash. Alex had put a stop to this by herding him into a dead-end alley, disorienting him with several flash bang grenades, and knocking him out with a very powerful stun gun. Then finally, for the cherry on top, she had hog-tied and gagged him before tossing him into the back of a delivery truck that was on a nonstop run to Juno. It had all happened in the middle of November, six months before.

While she was technically in the Tenth Street Reds' domain, Alex was sure John wouldn't mind if she took care of this problem for him. With quiet, fluid motions, Alex came out from behind the dumpster. She tweaked the settings on her pistol to a custom silencer mod she had built in. While not as powerful or accurate over long distances as a proper silencer may have been, it worked perfectly well in these close quarters.

As she approached on silent feet, the pair didn't even register her presence. The young woman, who was now backed up against the wall, handed her small duffel over to Bosco. "F-fine, just take it and leave me alone."

Alex had managed to close half the distance, so when Bosco reached out and closed his hand over one of the duffel's straps, she took quick aim at his left kneecap. With a barely audible "pop," the gun fired. A moment later, Bosco fell to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain, clutching his now destroyed kneecap. The knife clattered to the ground beside him and the duffle dropped on the sidewalk, forgotten as the young woman remained plastered to the wall.

Keeping her weapon trained on the downed man's chest, Alex casually closed the last several meters, kicking the knife aside. It skittered several meters away, well out of Bosco's reach, "Now now, Bosco. I thought you would have learned your lesson last time you came through town: Don't fuck around in my city. What were you thinking?"

Bosco didn't even seem to register her presence as he continued to writhe on the ground in pain, howling in pain. Alex frowned_. Damn! That was an awesome entrance, and it was wasted on this douche._ The man was also being quite loud, and while this area was mostly comprised of businesses that were closed for the night, Alex didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. In order to shut him up quickly, Alex coolly placed a booted foot on Bosco's throat, her pistol aimed right at his face. That snapped him out of it. Bosco stilled immediately, and his eyes, which had been shut tight against the pain, flew open and focused on the gun, which was a meter from his face. He looked the same as she remembered: unremarkable and boring. He was of average height, maybe a bit chubby, of indeterminate middle age with muddy-brown hair and eyes. The only thing that made him stand apart now was his nose, which had been broken when Alex had dropped him on his face in the back of the truck those months ago. Apparently, it had never been set and had healed poorly.

"Now, I'm going to ask you one more time, what were you thinking coming back to my city and harassing my people?" Alex's voice was cold, the majority of her face obscured by her hood. She could feel Bosco swallow hard beneath her boot, but she didn't let up on the pressure.

"How'd ya know my name?" Bosco squirmed under her boot.

"Stop moving." Alex ground the heel of her boot down harder into his throat. "And I'm asking the questions here."

Bosco choked and stilled once more, his voice coming out hoarse from the pressure on his neck. "Look, lady, I don't know what yer talking about. I was just being nice enough ta give this young woman directions."

Apparently the hood masked her features enough that Bosco didn't recognize her. _Oh, good. I'm gonna have a little fun with this._ Without taking her eyes off of her captive, Alex called over her shoulder, "Excuse me, miss? Are you alright?"

The girl's voice was slightly shrill and had a light accent that Alex couldn't quite place. "Am I alright? That man just tried to mug me. And then you shot him!"

Alex clucked her tongue at Bosco, speaking in a soft menacing voice. "Now see, you just lied to me. That doesn't look good for you. What happens to you now depends on her." Once more, Alex called over her shoulder, "I understand you are frightened, but did this guy hurt you at all?"

She could hear the girl take several deep breaths behind her, possibly in an attempt to calm down, before she responded, "He did pull a knife on me, but I am unharmed."

"Well now Bosco, looks like you just saved yourself from being shot in the face." Alex took her boot off the man's neck and took a step back. She watched as Bosco closed his eyes and sighed with relief. That was when she shot his right knee.

As the man started to scream again, Alex kicked the side of his head, shutting him up. Growling, she brought her gun to aim at his face once again with her right hand; with her left, she lowered the hood of her jacket to reveal her face. "Remember me now, fucker?"

"Aww, fuck…" was the response that came from Bosco's lips as the realization of who Alex was came over his features.

"That's right, it's me again. I thought you had learned your lesson last time you came through, but apparently not." She kicked the side of his head one more time. "Now, if I ever catch you in this city again, if I even _hear_ you may be around, I will personally track you down and kill you. Do I make myself clear?"

All Bosco could do was nod dumbly in response.

"Good, I'm glad we have an understanding. Now, I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that I'm giving you a chance to run, well, crawl really, before I tell the leader of the Tenth Street Reds where you are and he comes to deal with you himself."

A brief flicker of hope crossed over Bosco's features. A malicious smile pulled up the corner of Alex's mouth, exposing her teeth in an almost bloodthirsty grin, "The bad news is that we are about two blocks away from their headquarters. Better move fast."

She turned her back on him as a short sob of panic came from behind her. The girl he had tried to mug was still there, sitting terrified and motionless against the wall. _What was that old saying again? Like a deer caught in the headlights?_ Alex thought that was it, but she hadn't ever even seen a deer, much less gotten one in the headlights of a skycar, so what did she know?

As she walked back to the girl, she clipped the pistol back into place, picking up the large knife and the forgotten duffle as she went. When she reached the other girl, she consciously softened her features from the hardened mask she had used while dealing with Bosco. It wouldn't help to scare the girl even more, after all. Alex held the duffle out in offering. "I believe this is yours."

The girl only nodded silently as she slowly took the bag from Alex. Alex had to admit that she was pretty. She looked to be about Alex's age, with a soft, round face. Her hair was long and black and her skin appeared to be lightly tanned, but what really struck Alex were her eyes. Even in the darkness, she could tell that they were the most brilliant shade of blue she had ever seen on another person. Suddenly, Alex heard a shuffle behind her as Bosco attempted to stand up. She started, realizing that she had gotten lost in the girl's eyes. Which should _not_ have happen. As she turned, Bosco's attempt failed almost immediately as he let out another cry of pain.

Alex extended her right hand to the girl, making sure to speak softly. "I heard you tell him that you're new in town and that you're lost. If you want, you can come with me. I know you're probably scared right now, but I shot him for a reason. It's my job in this area to take care of people like you. My name is Alex, and I promise I'll keep you safe."

She watched as the girl gripped her duffle like a security blanket, looking back and forth from Alex's extended hand to her face, thinking. After a couple of seconds, she took Alex's proffered hand and pulled herself up. She was shorter than Alex, maybe 1.7 meters at the most, with the top of her head coming no higher than Alex's nose. Even when she made it to her feet, she still clung to Alex's hand, looking away. "My name is Janet, Janet Erikson. And you heard correctly, I am new in town. My parents kicked me out of my home and I figured this would be a safe place to come." Her voice got significantly quieter. "I can see I was wrong."

A bit puzzled by the fact that Janet still had not released her hand, Alex decided to enjoy it while she could. It wasn't often that an attractive person wanted contact with the likes of Alex. "Come on, I have a delivery to make real quick, and then I'll take you back to my place. We get a lot of strays that come through town, and we have extra beds and food."

Beside her, Janet simply nodded, still clearly shell-shocked by her ordeal, and allowed herself to be pulled along by Alex in the direction of the Reds' headquarters.

_Just make sure to be on the lookout for damsels in distress. _Moira's warning of jinxes was now cycling in a loop through Alex's mind. _I'm going inside to put fresh sheets on one of the spare beds, because at this point, you're gonna bring home a harem._ Alex couldn't help but sigh. While one stray girl was no harem, Moira was never going to let her live this down.


	12. Ch 12: Stray

The two walked hand in hand, in silence, the entire way to the storage complex that served as the Reds' base. When they arrived at the closed gate, Alex tapped in her code on the touchscreen, the one that would let her in without triggering any alarms. This was one of the few doors in the building that had not been updated to use a palm scanning which included more advanced biometrics to open the door. The Reds had set it up in such a way that each person had their own code. That allowed individuals various level of access, as well as allowing each person a booby-trap code. When the second code was entered, armed security drones and the couple mechs the group had would emerge and gun down whoever had entered it. Plus, the new doors could be opened if you applied enough omnigel to them. This made the newer doors more vulnerable than the old-fashioned touchscreen. Because of the standing arrangement between the gangs, Moira and Alex still had clearance to come and go as they pleased, though neither had access to the most sensitive areas anymore. That had been revoked, for understandable reasons, once the Forgotten were formed.

As they entered the complex, Alex was unsure to do with Janet. She didn't simply want to leave her waiting in the lobby. The girl had been through enough already, and if someone ran across her, she may get in more trouble. Honestly, it was best to bring Janet all the way in with her to see John. Plus, the new girl didn't seem to be registering much that was happening around her, anyway. They walked through the quiet halls, footsteps echoing off the close walls. It was quiet tonight. While it may have been almost two thirty in the morning, there were normally more people up and about. If she strained, Alex could hear the sounds of a vidscreen in the distance. _Good, at least someone else is awake for security._ _If Moira were still here, she'd be pissed right now._

John had a specific room in the back of main building, which he preferred to use for negotiations and accepting delivery of goods. He knew Alex well enough that, for quick drop offs, he would let her into his apartment located onsite. However, for the sake of appearances, he preferred to conduct most business with her the way he did with everyone else. While they may be allies and kind of friends – John insisted he didn't have any friends, only people who weren't enemies – he needed to make sure he didn't play favorites with Alex, especially now that she was no longer under his command.

When they reached the doors to the drop off room Alex stopped. Turning to face Janet, she squeezed her hand to get her attention. She spoke to the girl in hushed tones, "Hey, you alright?"

Janet's deep blue eyes came into focus once more, as she seemed to come fully back into reality. Alex had been right, then: she had been in some form of shock. Janet looked down at their still joined hands and quickly pulled hers away. However, she didn't move away from Alex otherwise. Alex flexed her fingers. Her hand felt cold now that the other girl had let go. Strangely, she found that she already missed the contact. Moira's voice continued to loop in snippets "…_the next person you set eyes on…damsel in distress…"_ It was all Alex could do to keep herself from growling audibly at the how easily her friend had predicted this. _Sometimes I swear that girl is some sort of psychic-gypsy…_thing_…on top of being a ninja._ She took a breath to calm herself before addressing Janet once again, "Okay, I need you to pay attention. Behind that door is the leader of the Tenth Street Reds. His name is John, and I used to follow him before I took over my own crew. We're here to drop off a package. It shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes to deal with the delivery and walk him through some stuff. Just keep quiet and stay off to the side. He can be frightening, but he won't try to hurt you. Also, I'll be bringing up Bosco, which means he'll probably start asking you questions. Just be respectful and answer truthfully, and everything will be fine. After that, I'll take you home and we'll get you set up with some food and a nice warm bed. Okay?"

Janet stood up a bit straighter and put on a brave face. "Understood." Alex could tell that the bravery was really just an act, but it impressed her anyway. Wasn't that what real bravery was anyway, doing something you had to even though you were scared?

Turning back to the door, Alex was just about to reach out her palm for the scanner. At the last moment, she had one last idea to lighten the mood. She looked back over her shoulder to Janet and said, "Now, normally I'd be a gentleman and let a beautiful girl like you go ahead of me. But just this once, I think I should go in first. Stay here until I call for you, okay?" She could see Janet stiffen from the playful flirtation before loosening up a bit, and was that a hint of a blush on the girl's cheeks? A wide grin split Alex's face and she finally reached out to place her palm on the scanner.

The door opened to a room containing a large conference table, eight chairs, a vidscreen, and nothing else in the way of furnishings. John stood at the head of the table on the far side of the room, next to his chair. He would always be the last to be seated, if he ever sat for meetings at all. He didn't like to seem weak during negotiations. Also, John tended to pace a lot when agitated, which was frequently. Alex stepped into the room. "Hey John, sorry I'm late. I had a run in with an _acquaintance _of ours and picked up a stray. Had to bring her with." As she spoke she made her way over to where her old seat was, immediately at John's left.

John's right eyebrow went up as she spoke. "What stray, and what _acquaintance_?"

"It's okay, Janet. Come on in." As Janet quickly and quietly made her way in, moving to stand off in a far corner of the room out of the way, Alex kept talking, "You remember that drifter, Bosco, who likes to pop in and cause trouble?"

John's face resumed its normal surly expression,. "The one you hogtied and threw in a truck to Alaska?"

"Yeah, that one. Anyway, he's back. As I was on my way over, I caught him harassing…" Alex drew a blank and called over to Janet, "I'm sorry, I forgot your last name. What is it again, miss?"

"Erikson," Janet piped up from the corner. Her voice still trembled a bit, but was more confident than it had been just minutes before.

"Thanks. He was harassing Miss Erikson here. He was in the middle of mugging her when I shot him in the kneecap. Well, really, I shot him in both kneecaps after I found out he hadn't permanently hurt the girl. Otherwise, I would have killed him. Figured you wouldn't mind. Also, as far as I know, he's still where I left him, off of 10th and Jessie…if you want to send a cleanup crew, that is. Don't think he can make it very far, without working legs and all."

John wiped a hand down his face in exasperation. "You know I don't like you dealing with issues in our turf. But, considering he was messing with someone who falls under your protection, and Bosco has been a thorn in my side whenever he comes to town, I'll overlook it." He turned his head to the side and placed a hand up to his right ear, activating the com there. "Riff, Travis, that drifter Bosco is back…no, we just need clean up…Alex dealt with him on her way in, shot him in both kneecaps, so he should be where he left him, 10th and Jessie…Unless he bled out, he should still be alive…Just remember, it's late. Do whatever you want, but keep it quiet. Report back once you're done." He lowered his hand, silencing the com. "Now, I assume you have the new shielding for me?"

"Yup, got it right here." Alex took the backpack from her shoulders and set it on the table. "I had to kit out my people first, but here are the first ten for your guys. Now, let me tell you all the fun stuff I did with them." For the next twenty minutes, Alex went over all the details for the modified shields, answering all of the questions she could for John, "…disruptor rounds are still very effective against these, but not as much as traditional shielding." Finally, Alex yawned and stretched, her back stiff from sitting in the chair. "Alright John, I'm beat, and I gotta get the girl back to my place."

Alex turned toward the corner where Janet had been waiting, only to find the girl sitting on the floor, asleep. She had brought her duffel onto her lap and was using it as a pillow. _Poor thing, she really must be exhausted._

"Just what the hell were you thinking, bringing someone like that into my base, anyway?" John had lowered his voice, so as to not wake the sleeping girl. Though they had been talking at a normal volume before, and it obviously hadn't kept her up, there was something about knowing there was a sleeping person nearby that just made people lower their volume.

"I know, I know, but what was I supposed to do? I was two blocks away when I found her and it was already late. She's new in town and was lost with nowhere to go. I couldn't just leave her, and it would have taken me even longer to get her set back up at my place before heading back here."

What happened next startled Alex; John actually chuckled. She could count the number of times she had heard the man laugh on one hand. What was it about Alex's life, or her antics, or whatever, that made everyone laugh at her? Still, the rich basso chuckle was a pleasant sound compared to the normal growls she heard coming from him. "Alex, you really have a hero complex, you know that? You're like some fucking white knight rescuing a princess from a troll."

Alex groaned, "You sound just like Moira right now."

A grin crossed John's face for a brief moment before it settled back into his usual state, "And what did our wise Moira say, exactly?"

So, Alex relayed her conversation with Moira from before she had left on the errand, John listening intently.

The large man first looked to Alex, then to Janet, and then back to Alex. "Damn, girl. Moira is _never _gonna let you live this down."

Alex didn't even bother replying to that last comment. She picked up her now empty backpack, zipped it up, and put it back over her shoulders. "Well, time to head back out. Gonna take me even longer than normal with the sleepyhead over there."

"I'd offer to lend you one of the skycars, but I remember what happened the last time you took one out."

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that pole was there? Plus, I got the guys to buff that dent right out. Not to mention, I executed a perfect parallel parking job."

"Yeah you did, but only after the damn thing spun 540 degrees and was parked facing the wrong way."

She waved her hand flippantly in the air "Picky, picky. It's fine, we'll walk." Alex made her way over to the sleeping Janet and knelt beside her. She couldn't help but notice how beautiful the girl was, with her hair framing her face like that as she slept. "_…fall head over heels…_" Ignoring Moira's voice in her head, Alex gently placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, keeping her voice gentle, "Janet? Come on, it's time to go."

Janet's brilliant blue eyes blinked open and focused on Alex again. In this light, they were even more stunning. Alex stood and offered her hand to help Janet stand up once more. The other girl took it and rose. This time though, Janet remembered to release Alex's hand, which Alex found made her a bit sad. Alex turned to address John, "I'll let you know when the next batch is done." Business finally finished, she led the way back toward her own territory at a slower pace, Janet at her side.

As they passed Jessie Street, Alex took a quick glance down it. The fog was still thick, and she couldn't see or hear anything. _Well, guess Bosco has been taken care of for good this time._

Once the pair reached Market, Alex could tell Janet wasn't going to make it all the way back on her own two feet. Thankfully, they were near a hotel with a couple of cabs parked out front. If the cabby was confused as to why two teenage girls were out so late, he didn't show it. He dropped them off, as instructed, at the corner of Noe and Market. Alex paid the driver, took Janet's duffel from her, and helped the poor exhausted girl out of the cab.

As they approached the house, Alex could see Moira waiting out on the stoop for them, typing away on a datapad.

Moira looked up from the pad as the two reached the base of the stairs. "Hey Boss, I was jus….." That was when Moira noticed the attractive young woman who was trailing behind Alex. Her eyes widened. "Damn, Alex, I was only joking before, but you really…"

"Not _another_ word, Moira," Alex growled out, cutting her friend off. "That drifter, Bosco, tried to mug her just two blocks from the Reds' headquarters. She's a stray, and needs a place to stay."

A devilish grin spread across Moira's face. "Are you saying that you rescued a damsel in distress?"

"I thought I said not another word. Come on, Janet, I'll show you to your room." With that, Alex walked right past her friend and into the house. Janet looked rather confused by the exchange, but was simply too tired to care. She quietly followed Alex into the house.

Outside, Moira sat biting her own hand to in an attempt to stifle the laughter that threatened to send her rolling around on the ground again. She was happy that she had made up a guest bed, and she knew that, no matter what happened between Alex and the new girl, she would be able to use this against her friend for a _long_ time.


	13. Ch 13: Cinderella

Lately, Alex kept late hours, waking up around noon and staying up until four a.m., sometimes later. She and Moira traded taking that shift every month, in order to keep the others from having to take on the late-night hours. This month was Alex's turn, and anyone who tried to wake her up before her usual time, unless it was an emergency, should fear the loss of a limb or three. So, Alex was shocked when she found herself waking up just before eight a.m., to the smell of bacon. The delicious smell was even more confusing, since no one in the house typically cooked breakfast. Since there were people coming and going at all hours, plus the nine people living in the house – ten now, if Janet ended up staying – everyone usually made do with cereal or something else equally easy.

As she began to wake up more, Alex realized that she could hear people chatting, pans were also clanging around, and other noises of an active household coming from downstairs. The house normally didn't sound like this either; it was too busy. While still groggy after a night spent tossing and turning, containing not quite four hours of restless sleep, Alex dragged herself out of bed to find out what was going on. She had passed out in her jeans and black t-shirt from yesterday, and, at this point, she was just grateful that she didn't have to rummage through the clothes strewn about her room for something to wear before making her way downstairs. It seemed like she could never find anything clean to wear. In truth, it was partially her own fault. She hated cleaning, and was usually too busy to deal with housekeeping anyway, but since this house was technically headquarters, everyone else took turns cleaning it, including doing the laundry. She yawned and stretched as she exited the room, then made her way to the top of the stairs. Instead of heading down right away, she simply listened to the unfamiliar voice giving orders.

"Okay, quickly, quickly. You three are going to the same school, correct? Alright, stack your plates in the sink and then grab a lunch." As the voice, which she now realized was Janet's, kept talking, Alex heard plates clattering into the sink, bags rustling, and other noises. She then watched as the three middle school-aged kids, Tyler, Julio, and Misha, left the house, lunch bags in hand. "You, I'm sorry, I don't know your name," Janet's voice continued.

"It's Emily."

"Thank you. Emily, can you and Michael please make sure Donovan makes it to school safely before heading over yourselves?"

"Uh...sure. Come on, Donovan. Let's go." With another clattering of plates and rustling of bags, the second group appeared at the door. Michael, a sophomore at a local high school and a trainee mechanic of Alex's, exited without noticing Alex at the top of the stairs. Next came Emily, a bright fourteen-year-old freshman. Next to her was Donovan, the youngest kid in the group at only seven years old. As Emily held the door open for the young boy, she spotted Alex, who was standing at the top of the stairs looking visibly confused. Emily looked toward the kitchen and back to Alex, mouthing, "What the fuck?" before exiting the house herself, closing the door behind her.

In the kitchen, the sink turned on and dishes began clattering loudly. After a few more seconds, Alex finally descended the stairs and rounded the corner into the living room. While the gang may not have a dining room per se, they did have a table and chairs for the kids to do their homework. Right now, though, Moira and Thomas were sitting and eating breakfast. There was a third place setting at the table, a plate containing bacon, eggs, and toast. Thomas was shoveling the food into his mouth as if he would never see food again, and Moira was reading a datapad as she ate. A steaming mug of what smelled like coffee sat in front of her as well.

"Uh…what the fuck is going on?" Was all that Alex could say at this bizarrely domestic sight.

Thomas stopped to swallow, turning to Alex for a moment. "Don't know, don't care." Then he started back into his food.

Moira picked up her mug and took a drink. After she swallowed, and without even looking up from the datapad, Moira gestured with her mug toward the kitchen. "Looks like the damsel you rescued is goddamn Cinderella."

"Huh?" Alex ran a hand through her red hair, making what had already been impressive bed-head even worse.

"I assure you, I am no Cinderella. I just come from a large family with a lot of younger siblings." Janet finally came out of the kitchen, holding her own mug in her left hand, and smiled at Alex. "Good morning. I hope I didn't wake you with all this." She gestured with her other hand to indicate the dining room and kitchen.

Alex still just stood there, staring into the dining room, utterly confused.

"Um, are you alright?" The smile left Janet's face as she watched Alex scan the room, a confused and disoriented look on her face.

"Don't mind the boss. She just usually isn't awake for another four hours or so, and this isn't part of her normal routine." Moira gestured with the datapad in her hand, indicating the whole scene. "Honestly, I doubt her brain is working all the way yet."

"Hey! That's not…Okay, that's fairly accurate," replied Alex, finally snapping out of her haze. She approached the table like there was some sort of trap that could spring out at her at any moment.

"That plate of food is for you." Janet gestured at the last plate of untouched food on the table. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Uh, sure, thanks." Alex sat, picked up her fork, and gently prodded at the scrambled eggs.

Janet set her mug down on the table at the empty space across from Alex before heading back into the kitchen. "What would you like in it?"

"Sugar is fine…I guess." Alex gave the eggs on her plate one more prod. That got her a kick in the shin from Moira. "Ow, hey! What was that for?"

Moira glared at her from above the datapad. "Be nice. Cinderella here went to the store early this morning for groceries, cooked for all of us and the kids, and even made them sandwiches for lunch. Now, stop being ungrateful and eat your damn breakfast."

"I wish you would stop calling me that" was Janet's reply as she walked back into the room. She placed a mug of coffee in front of Alex before returning to the seat across from her.

"You're right, Snow White is a better fit, anyway, especially with Grumpy over here." Moira glared once more at Alex, who had finally taken a bite of her eggs.

Alex swallowed, pleasantly surprised at how good the eggs were. "It's not that I'm ungrateful. It's just not something I'm used to. Anyway, thank you. You really didn't have to do all of this."

Thomas finally finished his plate of food by lifting the plate up, tipping it toward his mouth, and shoveling in the last of the food bits. Once he swallowed, he lowered the plate, stood, and made his way into the kitchen. He called back over his shoulder, "I don't care if she didn't have to. I just hope she does it again. I'm sick of cold breakfast."

A soft chuckle came from Janet. "I know I did not have to, but I figured it was the least I could do after you saved me last night. And like I said, I am used to having younger siblings around, and I always made their lunch for them. So really, this added some much-needed normalcy for me."

Janet's chuckle caused Alex's heart to do a little flip. To hide it, she quickly shoved some bacon into her mouth. She hadn't had bacon in a long time, but it was nice and crisp, just the way she liked it. Man, she really had been lucky finding Janet and bringing her back here, if she could cook like this.

Thomas made his way back into the dining room and stood next to Alex. "Any special assignments for the day, boss? Or should I just continue on the usual?"

After swallowing, Alex turned to her younger friend. "Nothing too special today. Check in with Cecile to see if she has that new batch of knock-out gas ready, but keep today easy. Focus on gathering intel. However, if you can manage, I want whatever you can get on Vincent Chang. That guy isn't too happy with me at the moment, and I want to stay on top of it before he becomes a real issue. I'll contact you if anything changes"

The young man grinned at Alex. "You know I can manage that, but I may have to split the shift in order to get the really good info. The best sources on Chang don't come out until after close of business."

Alex waved Thomas off. She had just shoveled another bite of egg and talked with her mouth full, "Dah's fime."

Thomas leaned close to his boss and spoke in a whisper only she could hear, "Nice pick up, boss. She looks like just your type."

With that, Alex started choking on the egg she had reflexively swallowed. As she coughed, Thomas walked away, laughing. Moira just looked at Alex with a raised brow. Only Janet seemed at all concerned. "Are you alright?"

Alex took several large gulps of her coffee. While it burned a bit, it was definitely better than choking. Finally, she was able to breathe again and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Thomas was just trying to be funny."

Out of the corner of her eye, Alex could see Moira smirking behind the datapad.

Janet had picked up the last remaining plates, bringing them into the kitchen. Once she was out of sight, Alex kicked Moira under the table. Once she got her friend's attention, she motioned with a jerk of her head for Moira to leave.

A smile spread over Moira's face. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." That earned her a glare from Alex as she left the room. She called back behind her, "I'll be up in my room if you need me."

Alex sat alone at the table, listening to the domestic sounds coming from the kitchen. She held onto her mug with one hand while rubbing the back of her neck with the other. Why was this so difficult? _I blame Moira for all this weirdness._ Alex did enjoy flirting. Not that Janet was flirting with her, and Thomas was right about Janet being her type, but all of Moira's talk about love jinxes the other night had thrown her off her game. Plus, she was out of her element. When Alex met anyone it was usually out on the street when she was dressed, showered and looking generally presentable. Now, though, she was in yesterday's clothes, clothes she had slept in, and her hair wasn't even combed. She ran her fingers through her hair self-consciously to try to tame the worst of the bedhead.

Once more, Janet came back into the room, taking a seat across from Alex. Alex couldn't help but notice how well put together the other girl was. Despite the ordeal they had gone through the other night, as well as what must have been an early morning, it appeared as though Janet had found time to shower, her straight hair hanging damp and loose down to the middle of her back. Alex couldn't help but notice that the new girl's clean clothes were form-fitting without being slutty, and were surprisingly unwrinkled despite having been being stuffed in her duffle.

"Oh no, did I get food on my shirt?" Janet looked down at her at her outfit, trying to figure out what all the fuss was about.

_Shit._ "Uh, no, sorry. I was just noticing your clothes. They seemed to have surprisingly few wrinkles for having been crammed in a duffle bag." _There ya go, Alex. Deflect with the truth._

"Actually, Moira brought me these." She gestured to her outfit, "She did not know if I had any extra clean clothes with me. To be honest, I am surprised that you had clothes around that would fit me, and that she was able to guess my size so accurately."

Inwardly, Alex breathed a sigh of relief at having dodged a bullet. "Moira is my second in command and heads the recon unit. She is extremely good at her job, which includes noticing details. I'd be more worried if she didn't pick out clothes the right size for you. We always keep a range of sizes on hand for situations like yours."

One of Janet's eyebrows cocked up. "And what exactly do you think my situation is?"

_Crap._ Alex knew she was screwing this up royally. "Uh, what I mean is, we get a lot of strays in town. People, kids or adults, that just show up with no place to go. We take in women that can't find room in the shelters. For kids under eighteen, we take them in whether they're strays or come from abusive backgrounds. Honestly, we'll turn away adults if we need to, but never the kids and teenagers. We give them clothing, food, and a place to stay until they can get on their feet. Sometimes the kids end up in good foster homes, and we won't let them go to bad ones. Some end up sticking around here, like the group you met earlier."

"Oh. Well, that isn't too far off, then." Janet stared down into her now empty coffee cup. Alex noticed that her beautiful blue eyes began to fill with tears.

Alex reached across the table and took Janet's hand in one of her own. The other girl looked up at her, using her free hand to wipe at the tears that weren't quite falling. Alex worked to keep her face passive and kind. Normally, Alex was protective of all the people that came into her care, even the adults. But something about Janet was setting off that protective streak even more than usual. Suddenly, all she wanted was to move around the table to embrace Janet and tell her that it would all be okay. Of course, Alex didn't even know what "it" was. Not yet, at least. She had to keep herself calm, for Janet's sake. She took a deep breath. "Why don't you tell me about what brought you to the City?"


End file.
